Digimon Adventure: Aftermath
by Birdboy
Summary: It had been so long, and so boring... Wasn't it right for us to have wanted another adventure, to desire to walk the digital world once more?
1. Chapter 1

_A world we all shared, a battle we all fought, a memory we all retain._

Takeru sleepily glanced over at the calendar, the once-mighty bearer of hope resting peacefully in his warm bed, his brown-furred, semi-batlike digimon perched adorably on his bedpost. The day had finally come to pass, it had been four years now… Four years since it had all began, since he had met Patamon, since he had changed so much.

Rolling over, the bearer of hope got out of his bed on that warm August day, simply wanting to see them again. It wasn't Hikari or Yamato so much, he was still in close contact with them, but Koushirou had his computer club, Jou was constantly studying, and it seemed he had drifted apart from the one he once trusted as leader. Sure, Miyako, Daisuke, Iori, and Ken were around, and it was fun being with them, but… Even if he had shared many an adventure with them, it seemed that adventure had passed him by, even with the battle with the Kaiser and Black War Greymon's destruction of the holy stones, it still hadn't stuck with him in the same way. Piemon's fall, Angemon's sacrifice, even gently flying in search of his brother, grasped in Birdramon's talons; that was the past he remembered.

That said, he quickly left his apartment, for he was, well, impatient. He did want to see them again, to be together with those seven, no, those fourteen once more. They had grown apart, after all, but they would always be bound by the digital world.

"And I went through every one of those adventures… I'm probably closer to that world than any of the other chosen. And I miss it… I really do, I can't say I liked the carnage, and I can still visit _that_ place, but I did like being able to adventure in the digital world. Even though I can still visit the exact spot where Angemon died, or where I first met Patamon, or even when Taichi found me after returning from Earth, I'd like to have some new memories, I want to adventure in the digital world one last time."

The so-called "batpig" digimon nodded cutely but wisely from atop his head, muttering something like "I do, too."

And with those thoughts running through his head, he walked to that park, walking under that same tree where they had all sat but one year ago, thinking back to when he played outside in a setting not unlike this one, saying goodbye to Patamon after all they had been through.

"At least he's still with me, if nothing else. And Patamon has been with me through everything, even as the other chosen had their roles diminish, and new ones joined us, he's still stayed by my side."

The blonde glanced upward, smiling at his digimon partner, not seeming to care about the other people walking through the park, until his body came up against another, while a distinct bumping sound, and then the noise of one falling against grass and dirt came into his ears.

"Sorry," Takeru yelled, stammering a quick apology, his head turned to the soft cover of grass to see who it was he knocked over. "Sora?"

He glanced down at the orange-haired girl lying on the grass, her outfit oddly feminine and conservative for the tomboyish bearer of love. "_Then again, I haven't seen her much lately, and she did seem somewhat like that last year, after all."_

The girl brushed herself off and got to her feet, looking at the golden-haired adolescent, but unable to place his identity at first. Of course, she soon noticed the Patamon on his hat, so even if he did look different, there wasn't much doubt of which person it was she was speaking to. "Takeru? Is that you?"

Takeru's cheeks flushed with a bit of crimson, embarrassed that he had knocked her over without noticing, and besides… _Was Sora always this cute?_ He thought, mentally smacking himself for thinking such a thing.

"It's been four years now…" He said, thinking once more of those days long gone by.

Takeru had close memories of all of them, of course. Jou's diving to save him from Mega Seadramon, his crest of sincerity finally glowing, Taichi's meeting up with him soon after he came back to the digital world, or even just talking with Tailmon over Hikari's wounded body beneath Mugen Dramon's city…

But it seemed however small those memories he had with Sora in that world were, even if it was just a bit of time in Mugen Dramon's city, flying with her on Birdramon, unaware of the darkness nearly consuming her, or just trying to get through to her when her crest wouldn't glow… Still, those memories were strong, even if they seemed almost irrelevant, he might as well have been saving the digital world just a few days before.

After all, even if he had lived almost all his life in the human world, it was the digital world where he had truly lived, and he was closer to it than any of them.

"Four long years…" Sora answered, seeming to think back to those same events. "Are they coming?"

"I don't think they can forget." Takeru answered, his voice seeming to have an odd, sagely tone to it. "After all, it's changed each and every one of us."

Sora nodded. "_But still, save that small bit of time with Yamato… We're all close, sure, but… None of us have fallen in love, and now we're even starting to drift apart." _She thought, a look of sorrow clear on her face, even though she wasn't thinking of any of the ones they had lost.

"Sora, what's wrong?" Takeru asked, moving to put a comforting hand on her back.

Sora Takenouchi did not respond, seeming lost in the past. "Sora?"

"Takeru…" She answered, her mouth turning into a faint smile. _"He's still worried about me. But this time, he's not just a child, he has his own problems to worry about."_

As Takeru continued searching for the source of Sora's troubles, his hand resting softly on her body, the bearer of love seemed as lost in thought as ever.

"I've said those words before, haven't I?" Takeru asked, thinking back to that flight, that overriding concern for the older girl, even as he was searching desperately for his own brother.

"And I responded in almost the same way. I didn't tell you last time either." She finished, smiling in amusement at how similar things were, and Takeru smiled back.

"I missed you…" Takeru stated sadly, feeling a need to catch up with her, to learn where their separate paths had taken them. "I was wondering--" He began, his voice having an oddly serious tone to it, even as he talked so casually. "What've you been up to?"

The orange-haired girl shrugged. "Not much. Things have actually been pretty boring this last year or so..." She answered, her voice trailing off as she thought about that uneventful time. _Or maybe it was longer than just one year… At least HE had that second adventure. I didn't even take an active mentor role, other then those few times, I merely stayed in this world… _"On a day like this... I only want to go back to the digital world."

"I know what you mean…" Takeru said longingly, taking out his D-Terminal to send a message to the others.

"I should wait for them, but I just miss it so much." Sora began, stating thoughts she would normally keep silent, but she seemed to be opening up around Takeru, perhaps because she thought a fellow chosen child would understand. "This is an odd request, I know, but… Could you please take me to the digital world?"

"Sure," Takeru answered, nodding. He turned to grab his digivice, but…

"Wait, there's no computer around here," The one who had once saved the digital world pointed out. "I'll take you there, just find me a portal."

"Thank you…" Sora spoke, as if her greatest desire had just been granted. "So, shall we be going?"

Takeru nodded, and the two walked off together, unified by a desire to return to that place.

* * *

After a bit of walking, conversing happily some more as a slight breeze blew against them, they realized not one of them knew precisely where to go. It was a Friday, so the computer labs would be taken, and as for going home, they were afraid their families would get the wrong idea. 

So they continued walking, and with nowhere to go, eventually they turned and walked back to that park, yet saw none there. _Have they forgotten? It's nice, spending time with Sora like this and all, but… How could they have forgotten?_

They hadn't forgotten, of course, they couldn't, not one of them. People may move on with their lives, but adventures like those in the digital world were some that few could forget. And in time they arrived at that park in Tokyo, all sitting under that wide, leafy tree once more, again reminiscing about past days.

"Maybe we should go back there… It just doesn't feel right, sitting here in the human world." Takeru said longingly, and many nodded in agreement, though Ken seemed not to have much in the way of happiness about this day of remembrance. Then again, after what he had done, it was only natural he wouldn't want to return.

"I'll stay here," The former Kaiser said, sorrow still in his voice, even if it had been almost a year since those deeds. "MY time in the digital world isn't of the sort I want to remember."

"Okay!" Miyako said, her old energy returning. "Digital gate, open! Chosen children, let's rock!" she yelled, holding up her red D-3 and using the words she had spoke fifty times before, if only speaking them this time for nostalgic reasons. Still, it wouldn't have felt right to say anything else, especially on a day like this.

And so they went, traveling through a spinning vortex, painted with light shades of many a color and pinkish bubbles behind them, until they emerged in the soft grasses of the digital world. The world would have seemed odd to most humans, with greenish and reddish trees with bark a clear blue towering above, but as unnatural it would have seemed to most of their kind, to them it almost felt like home. Even if they were not digimon in body, their spirits were equally tied to that world, after all, so how could they find that world unnatural?

"Finally…" Mimi spoke, her voice holding a soothing, pleasured tone. "I can finally see Palmon again."

The others were not quite as pleased, but then again, they also weren't an ocean and a continent away from any who could open gates between the worlds either. Still, it was relaxing, to say the least.

"It's been so long… I don't think we've all been in the digital world since Belial Vamdemon's defeat." Yamato spoke, laying his head softly on Gabumon's fur. "And even still, some of us haven't done much of anything here since the defeat of Apocalymon…" he added, gazing upward through the trees at the clear, pinkish skies.

"And even though people say life goes on, that life's adventures never truly end, it's just so boring these days in the human world." Sora added, her voice heavy with a mourning tone, seeming to echo of a spirit both far-off and lost. _"I know it would cause so much suffering, I know how many casualties it would bring, but I do want another adventure, anything's better than this boredom…"_

Takeru looked sympathetic, his feelings almost the exact same. Sure, Yamato had his band, Koushirou had the web, Jou had his studies, and Taichi and Hikari certainly had a bit of excitement, if nothing else, mentoring the dark seed children. "But we have none of that."

And even as the others reminisced, content with their past being just that, a distant memory, those two chosen longed for more of those adventures that were once so common for them.

* * *

And so they walked the trails of File Island, looking over where they were once hungry, lost and confused, waging a hopeless war against an unseen enemy. _"Things are different now"_, she thought, remembering that time so long before. "_The mountain that was Devimon's lair is now just some tourist attraction, at least the island's whole again and no longer in pain. Seadramon, Monochromon, digimon like that still roam the wilds, but great cities have sprung up as well, and it's a lot safer than before. Still, it's the same digital world, under the same pink sky, the same sort of Goburimon and Modoki Betamon stomping through the forests, the same world where we changed so much."_

"_But still… It's… Boring now."_ "_There's no more warfare, but also no more discovery, no more realizations, no more excitement. Never again will I feel that fear, will I be afraid I can't save this world, but I won't feel the happiness that comes with a true victory, or even wander happily into uncertainty, Piyomon by my side… And I can't say that doesn't make me sad, because it does, it makes me so sad… I just wish I had another adventure, I don't care anymore about what destruction it will cause…_

And as she walked through those forests, she still saw the faint outlines of the digimon she had fought.

"_Sora, you're losing it,"_ Part of her said, but the rest of her ignored that message. Holding out her white and blue digivice, she spoke. "Piyomon!"

"Piyomon shinka, Birdramon!"

The pink chocobo digimon spread her wings, now orange, large, and fiery. Her body became more eagle-like, and her mouth an odd, toothed, semi-draconic sort. "Sora? Why have you called for me?"

"I… Don't know…" she answered, unable to explain, thinking of how her adventures had ended. Digitamas falling from the sky, a picture with Andromon, that Botamon hatching, and then… Goodbye to Piyomon, and perhaps she died that day. After all, she hadn't even joked around with them since that seemingly ancient time, save the occasional first day of August, a time that was perhaps the only one she could look forward to…

Sure, her parents accepted her now, and she knew they loved her, even if her mother was commanding and her father was always away. But she was the holder of the crest of love, yet she still hadn't found love. Then again, she had given up the power of her crest, could she ever love again?

It seemed these days, Piyomon was all she had.

"Please… Could you take me flying? I… I want to fly with you one last time," she asked weakly, and the phoenix digimon swooped down, allowing the girl to climb on the large, orange talon. Hugging the bird's leg, she happily sat as her digimon zoomed up, looking down at the odd, familiar forest below. "Thank you…"

* * *

After a soothing flight, she was set down from the bird, to where her friends had found themselves once more. A cliff above the village of beginnings, the same place where they had once stood as they watched the world be reborn. 

She still had that picture, the one Andromon once had them take, that last bit of commemoration of that magnificent time. And for three years, apart from her digivice, that was the only memento she had. And there they were again, that same place, but something felt… Missing, not right, out of place, like it should have been there but had somehow faded away. "Has anyone told Andromon and the others about this?"

"Right, we should tell them… It just wouldn't be right any other way," Taichi responded distantly, ignoring the metal footsteps in the distance.

"Hello," A mechanical voice stated dryly, a faint bit of longing creeping in. "Chosen children, it's been a long time."

Taichi shifted his head to the right, and he saw Andromon's familiar form in the distance, along with the shadowy outlines of a centaur and an ogre.

"Ogremon!" Mimi yelled, running up to embrace the virus-type digimon.

On any other day, the green digimon would have taken his club and walked away, why, even back then he left soon after that picture. But at the same time, for all his talk about being an evil virus-type, even for all the blame he had affixed to that girl for his rival's death he simply had to return, return to that place where they had all once stood, and it wouldn't be right without the others.

Andromon and Kentarumon walked more slowly in the background, and had it not been for the chosen children running up to them, they would have arrived peacefully. Instead, they found themselves excitedly hugged, even the four-legged Kentarumon forced to the ground by the strength of Koushirou and Mimi both jumping into his short brown fur, taking out his thick legs from under him and, despite his rearing up, making pathetic efforts to move as a biped, and much flailing about aimlessly, he fall to the soft, dirty ground, smiling with happiness.

"_And to think I've always concerned myself only with prophecy… Still, there is that one bit that hasn't been fulfilled,"_ The centaur digimon thought sadly, and then stopped thinking of such things, for he had the digital world, and he was at last remembering those days of old. _"And I was one of the few watching over its rebirth, and these children saved it for us."_

Still, they played happily in that world, most forgetting their sorrows and boredom. Most, at least.

Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori were silent, as they had been since the gate opened, wanting to give their predecessors some time to themselves. It would be a lie to say they hadn't been a bit envious, but then again, the envy went both ways, everyone liked their adventures in this world. Still, they were a bit bored, they didn't have the memories the others were reliving, after all.

And for that reason they wandered, seeking out mementos of their own, later adventure. The spot where Oikawa died, in some random portion of the digital world they couldn't even locate, no matter how much Iori wished to place flowers on his grave.

Their other memories? The Kaiser's base, home to one of their greatest battles, the base that had exploded so bloodily? Or perhaps the place of Black War Greymon's death, on a now-crowded street in Tokyo? It was harder for them, to say the least, but still, there was that one place, that place where the holy stones met, where the chosen had at last met the gods.

Quietly summoning Aquilamon, with Daisuke and Iori behind her on the red eagle, they flew back to that spot, remembering their own adventures.

After all, even if they were all chosen, even if they were bound by that same world, the memories of that world were different for everyone. But they all cared for it just the same, even Ken Ichijouji, waiting sadly in the human world, still had much he loved of the digital.

* * *

In that park in Tokyo, that place where but a year ago the other eleven chosen had sat, the Digimon Kaiser sadly rested. _"I would like to go back there. But after what I've done, I certainly don't deserve to ever again touch the soil of the digital world. Dark seed or no dark seed, those were my hands just the same, I don't even deserve life after what I've done."_

The people in the park continued to walk, some hand-in-hand on some date, some just happily playing in that small bit of Japanese wilderness. Not one noticed the black-haired youth up against a tree, seeming on the verge of tears.

Normally, this would be Wormmon's place to console him, to think an insect could be so loving, it may have seemed odd to some. Then again, appearances were often deceiving; to think that an eleven-year-old genius had brought terror to the digital world was far more odd, and far more true, as he remembered all too well.

Wormmon was in the digital world, of course, the former Kaiser had found some excuse to send him away. _After all the digimon I've brought pain to, there could be nothing more wrong than letting me spend this day with Wormmon by my side._

Ken Ichijouji had once thought he had accepted his past, but after what he had done, after the horrible deeds he had committed, deeds which would be called "crimes" were he not the source of all rules in that place; there could be no acceptance.

And so he continued to wallow in sorrow.

* * *

Meanwhile, those who had once defeated the dark masters continued to remember, this day was the sort that even a cursory glance at the calendar would send any of them into a long spiral of memory. 

And in the digital world, walking by the places where they had once fought so many battles, places with so many memories attached. Visiting an old neighborhood on some special day, hanging out with old friends, to some extent that was what it was, certainly. But their memories were stronger than most, their experiences more powerful, their struggle the sort that even if it was filled with tragedy, some still would weep that it had ended.

Ogremon, Kentarumon, Andromon, their digimon partners, even Gennai had managed to take some time off. Four years ago, add Yuki Darumon, Meramon, a bunch of Otamamon and Gekomon, and many digimon now dead, and it might have been the resistance to the dark masters.

But the Otamamon and Gekomon, for all their loyalty and hero-worship, had finally given in and left their foreign princess. Meramon had his mountain, Yuki Darumon his foreign wasteland, and with all the casualties brought to the digital world in that horrible war, the dead had not yet risen, nor would they for some time.

Still, the remains of the group still felt something like completion, if only because they were with each other again, in that same place, talking about that common past.

"Remember when we were talking in that cave, and you and Leomon were still at each other's throats?" Mimi asked, her memories flaring up, but then again, whose memories weren't?

"Yeah… And then even when I tried to kill him, even when I cared only for our petty rivalry and ignored the world we lived, he still saved me. And then he got himself killed without even letting our rivalry finish," he spoke, the ogre digimon putting a bone club to his face, unwilling to admit his tears. "And he didn't even have the courtesy to grab my hand before dying." He finished talking, his voice ailing with a mix of sorrow and the sort of anger one has at the recently deceased.

"I'm sorry…" The former bearer of purity said sympathetically, her empathy still strong. Then again, unlike the others, her digimon could still reach her fully evolved form, perhaps with the digi-core she was still pure of heart.

Whatever it was, it certainly made her more… Able to touch the hearts of others, though it can't be certain what word should be used to describe such a thing, it's a difficult concept to describe. There is a reason such an imprecise word as "purity" was used, after all. And the loveless Sora certainly couldn't help but look upon her old friend with envy, wishing that the Skull Satamon could have been defeated some other way. "Damn, couldn't they have adapted quicker? If only I had Piyomon with me more," she mumbled silently, but her digimon still knew the feeling she had.

"_There are many points on which a life can turn, many decisions with unforeseen consequences. Couldn't one of them have stopped me from having to lose my crest?"_ She thought, a teardrop forming in her eye as she silently shouted at the fates.

Piyomon nestled against the human who had changed her life, but sadly, it did nothing for her. Though it couldn't be said if anyone else noticed, if they did, the former bearer of love didn't realize.

And sad she remained, even as the others happily remembered those times, even if she didn't see nearly as much tragedy as the others, sorrow was all she could feel.

No, not just sorrow; that foolish, selfish wish remained, that wish for yet another adventure. _One last time… I want to go to the digital world again, to watch as Piyomon fights those battles, to feel that sort of strong emotion one last time._

And when they finally went their separate ways, leaving that plateau above the village of beginnings, Sora's sad wish remained.

* * *

_Leaving the world she called home once more, saying good-bye to her family… A terrified landing, a stingray-shaped hole in the sky… A megalomaniac with a thing for theater and pain, A silver haired armored sea snake, a demented, wooden puppet, and a mechanical, fanged dragon. Jou almost falling off a cliff, Chuumon wounded and crying over his past, over the dark masters' victory and Sukamon's death… A four-colored mountain, an endless climb, and a terrified first encounter swiping away any arrogance, confidence, and hope they had once had, a hope it took Holy Angemon and Takeru's crest to restore._

_And not once did she cry, not once did she even mind. But now…_

_Now, in this world of peace, either the human or the digital, they were both peaceful. Not that war is good or anything, she had seen what it had done to her friends, even the survivors, but couldn't there be something better?_

_There had to be something better than this boring, inert time. There had to be those times that tested people's souls, those times so often described in both legends and anime, those times when life was interesting enough others could look at it for entertainment._

_But she hadn't had any of those times for four long years… No, this boring time of peace was all she had, since she had given up the powers of her crest, she had not even had love. Even when it seemed the normal of humanity, the most mundane of the common people had found such a thing, while the one who once held its crest still could not._

But for all the power to grant wishes it was said to have, the digital world could not find a way between the boring inertia of peace and the bloody horrors of war.

* * *

As Sora made her fateful wish, Takeru was still reflecting, reflecting on a decision that may someday prove to have changed the world, though its effects had not yet been seen. "I hate the darkness, for four years I've only wanted to see it vanquished. My digimon relies on the powers of light, every single one of my enemies has relied on the powers of darkness, and in this cosmic struggle between good and evil, it seemed clear where I stood." 

"And then I chose balance over victory, and darkness lives on. Is this boring life Seiryu's revenge?"

"No, it can't be. I left the towers standing, yet victory is as clear as ever, good reigns supreme in the digital world still. Perhaps I simply failed to preserve the balance, and maybe it really is that important that neither side can win."

"Should I serve the darkness?" he asked, as if the air would respond to his question. _"No, I can't. There are too many people I'd have to betray, and I could never hurt any one of them."_

Still, the thought was tempting; though he'd much rather fight for good against an overpowering darkness, than for evil against an overpowering light. _"Sure, Hikari-chan's happy, of course she is. But what about those of us who never finished our adventure?" _He thought, then an idea shot through his head, which he quickly discarded as too insane. _"The dark ocean… We were not meant to go there, and there's a difference between adventure and suicide."_

But he could think of nothing else, and shrugging, added one more thought. _"But what then? I guess I'll just have to find happiness in this time of peace, but can that really be done?"_

But as he looked to the sky, he did not see any hope of happiness, save that which comes from remembering the happy times of days long gone. But if those memories were all he had, and if the future was lost to him at the age of twelve, what sort of life could he lead?

Confused, he simply resolved to take things as they came, though he hoped they would be more interesting. If nothing else, even if it was supposed to have been lost to him, even if it made no sense, he still had hope, even if it was hope he lacked but seconds ago.

But how could that hope be realized? And would he forever regret what he would have to do?

* * *

Morning turned to midday, and from there to night, and the paths of memory continued. But for all the happiness the others could feel, the sorrow in Sora's heart remained. In time, the chosen felt they had seen all they had to in that world, and there was still their home, under the apartment-lit skies of Tokyo, and still something Tailmon had to do. 

"I saw him last year, didn't I? His spirit's probably passed on or something, even if he wants to see me again, I don't think he can without some important message." The feline digimon said, remembering times far more recent than the rest. "Hikari-san… Can we go back now?" She asked, her tone showing that she clearly thought this request important, as if returning to somewhere she had left behind.

"Sure," the former bearer of light answered, nodding in understanding. "This is important, and we're not as connected to what happened back then, but with the human world..." she began, leaving the rest unspoken as Takeru reached for his digivice… "Digital gate, open!"

* * *

The day was still the same; they would have been sailing back on Ikkakumon at that hour four years ago. But it seemed the past was off by two days, as they were not united in the human world, (Save Hikari, that is) but separated in the digital. Sora's sorrows would not leave that place, and she too seemed nearly paralyzed, unable or unwilling to move. Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori had left long ago, but this was not their day; this was for a past they had not seen. It would have been like Yamato celebrating the day of the first battle of Hikarigaoka. Sure, they were reminiscing off afar, but they had to give the first group of chosen some space. Takeru still sat by where the holy stones met, Ken rested in that park in Tokyo, some things did not change. Mimi was at the cemetery, after all, this was the closest she could get to the day Wizarmon, Piccolomon, Whamon, and Chuumon died, and she had never truly stopped mourning. And Yamato… 

Yamato was off with Gabumon again, searching for the place where he had once found his answers. Even if he didn't show much, he hadn't ever really recovered. Much as he joked with his band mates, it felt empty and hollow, the friendship he had once held as a crest was gone.

And for what? To cleanse the digital world? A noble idea, sure, but sacrifices never took to sacrifice easily. Taichi a weeping coward, Koushirou apathetic, Sora loveless, Takeru in despair, Hikari in darkness, Mimi impure? "That… Can't happen…" He uncharacteristically gasped, horrified by the thought, the souls that seemed to be gone while the empty shells remained.

"And there were still those times… Takeru and Hikari opened their digimentals, even if digimentals aren't quite as strong as crests, after all, and Angewomon did appear that one time. If Hikari's light is not gone, then perhaps there is a way. It's quite ironic, I never thought the dark ocean would be the source of my last hope."

Comforted by this thought, Yamato did not notice the sadness in Gabumon's eyes, how even in the digital world, in Seiryu's sphere no less, he seemed cold and distant. "So that was the price I paid."

* * *

Koushirou, for all he had withdrawn into the internet, had not wholly lost his curiosity. The urge was still strong, he had time, and the spot did have _some_ memories attached to it. Kabuterimon's birth was a rather important incident, to say the least. 

But that was not what brought him here, even if the others reminisced, no sacrifice could end his curiosity.

And if he was correct, then the world's source code was in that place. But when he reached out, trying to press the on switch and decipher the world, his hand fell numb. "I… I can't do it… I'm afraid."

Tentomon looked at him, and at last he understood his human partner.

* * *

Taichi had not yet had those situations which required courage, such a thing was valuable and made one leader in life-or-death struggle, but in times of peace was not nearly so important, so he was fine. This era of peace may not have suited him like it did his sister, but it wasn't as bad as it was for the others, and he had adapted to a new life, bound to the others only by memories. 

If the others could say the same, then perhaps it wouldn't have happened. But how could a new world survive, when the peace, strong as it was, only had two who desired its protection?

But this was not the time for an end, for now was the time of memory, even if most of the memories were bittersweet and the happy ones few and far between.

And for that reason, if nothing else, he looked to his past. But at the same time…

Piccolomon, the lessons he learned there, he wanted to go back to that wise digimon and that mysterious cave. But as he crossed the sea to Server, he remembered what happened beyond the time of Etemon.

Piccolomon was gone now, dead, data waiting to be brought to a new form. Leomon too, Whamon, Chuumon, hordes of Numemon, thousands of smashed digitamas, and it was only a great bit of luck that prevented him from adding Andromon and all the chosen children to that list. And those casualties were all because of his "mighty leadership", his courageous attacks that caused way too many casualties, while a better one could have often thought up a wise plan.

"_Had Koushirou led us, or even Yamato… I let friendship fade, and so many digimon paid the price. My successors, they fought an enemy far stronger than their own digimon, digimon they should have had no chance against, and they still won. Takeru, Daisuke, half the time I wasn't sure which of them was in charge, but whoever it was... Had he led us, Leomon would be here with Ogremon, I would still be able to talk to Piccolomon now, Wizarmon would have lived… I am a failure, even if we won, it's in spite of my deeds, I failed us all. I'm no leader."_

Agumon, for all his efforts, could not console the former bearer of courage, who now lacked the courage to lead.

* * *

_This is not our time._

_At least **my** dreams have come true…_

_Light's victory, is it any better? Shall I turn to darkness?_

_I'm afraid… What may I learn?_

_Leomon… Chuumon… Whamon…_

_I wish it would return…_

_So that was the price I paid._

_I'm no leader._

The day of memories may be on some levels a happy occasion, but for many, it brought only sadness.

* * *

On the first night of August, for the third time in the past five years, Wizarmon's spirit was at that TV tower in Tokyo. And it was there that Hikari and Tailmon now went, for they had an old friend to visit. 

A standard mage's hat, a young girl and a tearful cat crying over the dying mage's body, even as he spoke those words of thanks. An angel, awakened by the death, and then a victory at last over that horrible vampire demon.

Hikari's light had awakened, its power has not diminished since, and the one who had tried to slay her yesterday now held a bond with her as strong as any.

And this was all because of Wizarmon. To either of them, forgetting Wizarmon's tale would be nothing less than forgetting the source of their existence.

So even though the winds were strong, even though Masaharu was the only one who had cleared them, even though at any moment they could be found by someone, taken, and questioned, and even though the night was scary indeed… Nothing would dissuade them, and so the still-young girl and her white cat crept along that balcony, searching for the ghastly, warm presence of a true friend.

* * *

The day had ended for the rest of that first group of chosen, the skies were now dark--dark as they could be in urban Japan at least, the air was cool, and the chosen were in the human world, though there was no prophecy this time around. The skies would not be darkened by the wings of many bats, there were no fallen people to invoke the name of the undead king, and the clock had struck the hour of the beast with absolutely no effect. 

So it was easy to say "The day had ended," easy to expect the chosen to return home, having remembered their past, and then just letting it slide for the next three hundred and sixty-four days. This would not happen, this could not happen, and as Sora walked the sidewalks of Japan's biggest city, it seemed she was seconds away from tears.

But Takeru had a promise to keep. "That's all, just a promise," he thought, not willing to admit he followed for any reason but duty. "I have to take her back there. We're all friends, I can't see her like this, she's done too much for all of us… If not for her, we could easily have fallen apart…"

Those were his thoughts, at least. In truth, the wind was strong today, his clothing was still the loose sort one expects in summer, and his words were more like "Brrr" than any deep reasons for following his friend.

Sora continued to walk, not looking back, not even certain where she was going. All she knew was that she wanted a future, but it seemed she would forever be frozen in days long passed.

And Takeru continued to chase after her.

* * *

"Wizarmon…" Tailmon said thoughtfully, still remembering, but no longer able to contain her excitement. "I'm coming, Wizarmon!" 

"Tailmon, you could fall!" Hikari yelled, her voice overwhelmed with concern as she chased the feline digimon.

But while Tailmon was a quadruped with incredible balance, Hikari was not. And that very thing she feared would happen to Tailmon quickly happened to her instead.

In other words, she slipped on some water and skidded helplessly off the edge.

"Hikari-san!" Tailmon shouted, quickly turning around and scampering back, running without the caution one usually has on such a narrow place.

"Tailmon…" Hikari said, her hand slipping off the white ledge. _"So, this is my end… It's only natural I die on the anniversary of that day…" _She mumbled, her voice resigned and uncaring.

And then, as the strain of holding on became too much, she let go, closed her eyes, began to drop, and then felt a clawed hand grabbing her own.

"Wizarmon wanted you to live…"

Hikari nodded. "Let's go." She said forcefully, pulling her body back onto the ledge. "_After all Wizarmon did… I can't die here, I can't make his death go to waste."_

And so they continued to walk carefully, seeing the sorcerer's ethereal form far in the distance, wanting to hear his voice one last time.

* * *

"_Is light better than darkness? I thought it was, it was only natural I'd rather Hikari-chan win then Piemon or Vamdemon…" _Sora thought, still filled with sorrow as she wandered the streets of Tokyo. _"But these days I'm not sure…"_

"_Today I returned to the digital world, it should have calmed my spirit… But all I can say now is that I miss my adventures of old even more."_

A tear dropped slowly to the sidewalk, and it seemed no one would notice, why would anyone care about the tears of one sad girl? She had resigned herself to such a thing, so when she felt the brush of that comforting hand against her skin, it seemed that much odder.

"Yamato?" She blurted out, turning her head to face whoever it was. "Takeru, it's you…" The orange-haired girl said, her tone apologetic in nature.

Takeru stammered, trying to get some words out, something that would make his friend feel better. "I can still take you back there, if it will help..."

Sora Takenouchi smiled, but it was a false smile, a smile that did not deserve to exist with the depth of her sorrow underneath. Not that Takeru's statement wouldn't make her smile, but she just didn't see how the digital world could help her now, she had gone there so recently…

"_Then again, I have stayed in this world for four years, and nothing's changed… Nothing more will come for me here, there is no quest waiting for me, there is nothing here but this life."_

"Takeru-kun… Could you take me back to the digital world?" It was an odd request, she had been there so recently and left it so soon, but there was still that feeling that she would find nothing in this world.

The former bearer of hope nodded, feeling a bit of what had once been his attribute once more. And after a bit of sneaking around to find a computer, those words were spoken again.

"Digital gate, open!"

And so they returned, casting their selves away once more on that island of adventure.

* * *

"_Chosen children, please, save this world…"_

"We did, didn't we? Piemon, Metal Seadramon, Pinnochimon, Mugen Dramon, all dead, spiral mountain's been gone for years. So why must we feel this pain?"

Yamato wandered in that cave of darkness once more, still just as torn as the last time his crest wouldn't glow. He didn't have a tag to hold up to himself and look at, horror in his eyes, but his emotion was just the same.

"_But Gabumon can still become Garurumon… How can this happen without the crest? The digivice is just a tool, without friendship it's worthless, I've seen that… So maybe there's still, y'know, hope?"_

But looking around that illusory cave, it was hard to see any of such a thing. And when Gabumon chomped on his leg, trying desperately to bring him out of his misery, his cold blue eyes didn't even notice.

There was still that image from before, and no glowing bearer of light to distract him from Jureimon's words this time, those words spoke in that forest by the reflecting lake.

"_No offense, but even if I felt like talking, it wouldn't be to a tree."_

"_So, you're still stuck in the same place, still the same old jerk you always were."_

Gabumon's look was one of rage back then, the sort of rage that wants to make you jump at someone, slap them, and tell them to shut up. But as Yamato listened, his emotions had turned to sadness, the same sadness he felt now.

"_That's right, go on, but you'll never learn how to change. You'll always be as you are right now."_

"So is Taichi still my rival? Is it because I never defeated him, was I meant to be the leader?" The thought was tempting, the idea that all he would have to do would be to have Garurumon tear Greymon in two and his life would actually have something other then this eternal, friendless stagnation. _"It would certainly be easier than this…"_

And now, Gabumon's look was the same sad one he had when Jureimon's words had lured Yamato to fight against his closest friend.

"_Even if I do attack Taichi, it will still be the same as before. Hikari won't interrupt it, and the digimon will be in weaker forms, but the battle would still just be the past repeating itself yet again. I'd still be a slave to the past, win or lose, no different then I am now."_

"_But last time I didn't win."_

"Friendship, loyalty, comrades. You were hurt so much to prove it to me, that those ideals were more than just words… But can I count any of the others as my friends, after we grew apart so easily?"

"I'll prove it again to you if I have to!" Gabumon shouted, desperately trying to reach Yamato's unhearing ears.

"Of course you will, you're my digimon…" Yamato said, bending down to embrace the reptile wrapped in wolf fur. "_But…"_

"_Can I trust the others? All we have is that memory. And I sacrificed my friendship, didn't I?"_

"Friendship did mean a lot to me. But all the friendship I had was given up to seal the digital world, and now there is only isolation." Yamato said, his look one of deep sorrow, his eyes providing a window to a suffering soul.

"No, there's not only isolation." Gabumon responded, and Yamato finally listened. "I'm still here for you."

The former, no, the bearer of friendship nodded, at last convinced he had something. But still, it was something from before, the same sort of ending as last time, and it seemed he would always be a slave to his past.

* * *

There were some, however, who only wished they could hold on to that lost part of their past. But none of Tailmon's tears touched Wizarmon's body, nor could she even put a paw to his cape anymore, for all she tried. The wizard digimon was ethereal now, after all, and seldom if ever appeared in his ghostly state. In other words, Wizarmon was but another ghost of the past that could not move on, like all of them in some ways, but more literal than most. 

After all, digimon weren't meant for an afterlife, they were supposed to be reconfigured. Pumpmon, Gotsumon, Dark Tyrannomon, their spirits were probably haunting some spot, even though it couldn't be said which one…

"Wizarmon, I missed you!" Tailmon said, her normally unblinking eyes tearful just to see him again.

Wizarmon's reaction was different, to say the least, and far more serious. "I do want the three of us to spend time together happily, I really do. But that is not why I've appeared to you today, Tailmon."

"What?" The feline digimon asked, her "what" a mix of surprise and a "what are you saying" type of reaction.

"In the digital world, there is a balance between light and darkness." Hearing this, Hikari nodded, even though she did wish the balance could end and light prevail. "Be warned, the darkness is not yet defeated, and it may very well gain allies that are... Not typically on their side."

"Not typically on their side? Do you mean…" Hikari began, all but certain what was meant by this, but this was not something she would accept easily.

"Yes, I do." Wizarmon spoke quietly, a sorrow in his voice that he lacked even when he met his end…

Hikari froze. Daisuke, Miyako, Iori, they had problems with even killing a digimon they didn't even know… She did too, for that matter, but she had by and large been able to put that aside when the fate of both worlds was at stake.

But to hold up her digivice and evolve Tailmon, facing Takeru for her life? To make her digimon evolve, with the knowledge that such an evolution was only meant to bring her friends harm?

"I… I can't accept that." Hikari responded, unwilling to yield even to reality. "Wizarmon, I know you mean well, and I know what you've done…" She said, trailing off as she remembered how the blue-robed mage died, remembering his final words.

"_Don't be sorry….I don't have any regrets. If I hadn't met you, my life would've had no meaning. I'm glad that you and I were friends."_

"_Thank you for everything, Tailmon."_

A tear dropped from Hikari's face as she remembered, remembering the sort of death we would all prefer, but still a death she brought upon the wizard digimon.

Until the words of that very digimon broke her out of her memorial trance.

"I know you can't. I simply wanted you to know…"

And with that, Yagami Hikari nodded, some odd sort of determination on her face, even though she knew not what she was determined to do.

* * *

"Ken-chan?" 

The former Digimon Kaiser lay against the great tree's soft bark, the wind seeming to be his only comfort on this oddly cold august night. "Ken-chan, you can't forget the past forever." _Though I wouldn't want to remember it either, if I had done such a thing."_

"I know." Ken answered softly, his soft and gentle voice seeming incapable of belonging to one who had done those horrible deeds. Though come to think of it, his voice was different back then, even his eyes were different.

But even when he wandered into the village of beginnings in that torn, broken state, his outfit, hair and eyes all so different than before, the digimon had still recognized him for who he was.

"But I can't bring myself to reminisce about those days at all, I still want to forget."

"I know…" Wormmon responded, unsure of how to continue. "But can you?"

Hearing those words, the image of Kimeramon's composite body appeared in his mind, remembering the monstrous digimon he had once created, and remembering what happened to it.

And much worse, what happened to his digimon partner, events he would try no longer to think about, but the wounded green insect bursting in his arms was simply something he could not stow away in his mind.

"Wormmon…" He said, throwing his arms around the insectoid digimon. "Don't die…"

The insect digimon would have smiled, if his species could do such a thing. Instead, he merely felt an incredible happiness, nestling into Ken's gentle arms.

* * *

Butterflies, as a species, were not native to the digital world. Sure, there was some odd, theorized armor evolution of Wormmon from ancient times, but the resemblance between a creature like that and those flapping creatures was tenuous indeed, if for no other reason than the size. 

A speck of light, that was what it appeared to be, just an ordinary speck of light. Iori blinked, putting a hand up to his face, thinking it just some speck trapped in his eyelid, then felt a wingtip brush against his finger.

"Yukio?" he asked, remembering that man who had but a year before caused that whole adventure, suffering and all.

_And look at me, so rarely even in this world… Oikawa dies just to come back here, and I casually dart back and forth, spending almost all my time away from here._

The butterfly continued to drift softly in the breeze, seeming as if it wanted to see Iori one last time, to thank him or something of the sort.

"Iori, let's get going already." Daisuke shouted from off in the distance, already prepared to leave.

"Daisuke-san… I can't go yet, please let me stay." he spoke, bowing politely for good measure.

And with that, Motomiya Daisuke nodded and turned back, walking towards the one who inherited curiosity.

And even for all the pain it had brought Ken… Daisuke was still pleased that such an adventure had happened. _"Thank you, Oikawa-san."

* * *

_

"_This is a day of memory… Shouldn't there be some memory I can look back on happily? _

"I remember the battles, each and every one of them. I remember Wizarmon, Chuumon, Piccolomon, the Numemon. I can still think back on the Pyocomon village, catching Piyomon, and I remember all too well that loveless feeling that for so long forbade the crest of love from glowing..." Sora spoke, her tone a mourning and solemn one, even for all those memories meant to her. "I wish there was some memory I could simply rejoice at, some time I could look back at and be truly happy."

Takeru heard those words, and thought back on his own memories… They weren't entirely happy either, but he was the bearer of hope, that feeling when his digimon evolved and brought when it seemed all was lost… It was a feeling so many knew in some way, be it from a team making a great comeback, a revelation that brought happiness to their darker times, and it was that feeling he had at least now.

But even those memories had sadness in them. After all, hope may be said spring eternal, but hope is often simply an attempt to survive a crushing life, an all-encompassing despair. Angemon came on the verge of Devimon's triumph Holy Angemon the same for Piemon… And even hope didn't always save the world, as he knew all too well from the time of that holy stone.

And then he spoke.

"Then we'll create that memory." Takeru answered, smiling as he grabbed Sora's arm. "It's still the first of August; we are in the digital world." He added, that uninhibited feeling of "why not" taking over his mind.

And as he began running, Takenouchi Sora followed, her emotions a mix of wonder and hope. "Hmm? Takeru-kun, where are you taking me?"

Takeru merely smiled and continued to pull her along, running as the ground seemed to slope further and further downward, until they found themselves tumbling, then more tumbling, until they ended up collapsed at the hill's base, together in some wet grass located unknown part of the digital world.

"Still, it's the same… It's still that same experience as before, losing ourselves in this world." Sora spoke, still not convinced of Takeru's hope for a future.

"No, it's not. This time, we're here to enjoy ourselves, this time, we're happy."

At hearing this, the former bearer of love's face turned into a wide smile, but the sorrow remained underneath it all.

"_After all, this can't last… Today's special, we'll be back to the same old boredom tomorrow."_

"_But Takeru-kun's finally regained hope,"_ she thought, choosing to leave the implications for her tucked away in her mind, as thinking of love right now did not seem like it would bring any happiness.

Still, she would try to enjoy this day, hoping at last she could have a happy memory. So she did her best to forget the sorrow that lurked beneath, to let go of her reliance only on memory… And with that thought, she resolved to feel happiness today, to create a day in the digital world she could remember only with fondness.

But even with that vow, the similarities were there. It was still a sad day, she was still questioning her ability to love, she was with Piyomon for most of it… And much as she tried, she could not forget that similarity, nor could she ignore that she would soon have to say goodbye, and with something like that she could not follow what she had resolved.

"_Thank you, Takeru-kun…" _

And with that, the former bearer of hope smiled once more, no longer fearing for Patamon's fate or mourning this era of peace.

* * *

For all the work of the gods, the recent history of the digital world was not a happy one. In the last twenty years or so, they had seen bloody anarchy, demons, outright destruction, rebirth, slavery, and then near-destruction again. Yet for all the horrors that world had seen, the digital world had forged so many interesting ones, made so many digimon grow too soon, created the times that would test us all. And after such a time, even the digimon could not easily adapt to these years of peace. 

Andromon patrolled Factorial Town again, as he was programmed to do, as he had done many times before. There was once a time when his patrols had found an enemy, when the domed city had found itself a Kaiser. And then the gates were overrun, the tower was erected, the black rings flew, the Guardromon were reprogrammed, and all he had done for defense was undone in minutes.

"_To think Hikari's tears would have brought me back, to think that a girl so young could have done so much…"_ Come to think of it, though, Hikari was no ordinary girl, "ordinary girl" is not an appellation used for those who become radioactive monarchs at the age of eight and are summoned to R'lyeh at eleven.

_After all, those wars did change us… They may have entered the digital world as children, but I can't say the same for when they left, and every digimon who lived through that time changed just as much._

"_Every digimon who lived through that time..."_ Who was it now, Kentarumon, Yuki Darumon, Ogremon, and a few Otamamon and Gekomon? Meramon had passed on now, he was aging, sure, but… It felt like everything was slipping away, like they were all either dying off or leaving this world, while he stayed behind, ruled by his memory.

"_Even if Hikari is special, it wasn't just her tears that did it… It was the strength of that time, the times we all went through, the power of our memories."

* * *

_

"_I miss it… I really do, I can't say I liked the carnage, and I can still visit that place, but I did like being able to adventure in the digital world. Even though I can still visit the exact spot where Angemon died, or where I first met Patamon, or even when Taichi found me after returning from Earth, I'd like to have some new memories, I want to adventure in the digital world one last time."_

"_There are many points on which a life can turn, many decisions with unforeseen consequences. Couldn't one of them have stopped me from having to lose my crest? I want to go to the digital world again, to watch as Piyomon fights those battles, to feel that sort of strong emotion one last time."_

One wish, one desire, twelve sorrows. It was said that the digital world was ultimately a mix of computer information and people's dreams, but for four years it had ignored the wishes of the chosen children of old.

Then again, today was the first of August, the fourth anniversary of that oft-remembered time, and the day all their sorrows had come together. Boredom, sadness, this was not the time of victory so many had hoped for.

If any day was a day of miracles, this was it, be it Devimon's fall or the arrows of hope and light. But to grant the wish Sora and Takeru, no, the wish all the chosen children save Hikari had made, and a desire that even she had, tucked away in some unknown corner of her heart…

The digital world had suffered enough already, war had been so common a state of affairs, the gods could not simply create a monster and watch their world feel even more pain, and it could easily endanger worlds beyond

But even now it was crying, crying for those lost days of happiness. And it was their duty to grant wishes, and they did owe the chosen children, no matter how much it pained them.

Beneath the digital world they lurked, and it was at last their time.

And so it began once more.


	2. Chapter 2

_So that her wish could be granted, so that her happiness could return… All because of that one wish and that day of sorrowful memory… _

_If not for that sadness, perhaps things would have been different, perhaps it wouldn't have happened… But would it truly have been any better?_

_

* * *

_

Noriko, one of the so-called "Dark seed children", was… sad. There were times when Ken's words seemed true, only yesterday she had truly believed that as long as she believed in herself and her dreams, the dark seeds truly would be powerless.

Maybe she still did, maybe she had merely let go of those dreams. But on the second day of August, at the age of nine years, Noriko's dreams had died.

She turned her head to look at her digimon, the Penmon so unfitting for her. Punimon was a baby digimon like any other, sure, and she supposed Tsunomon was as solid a stage before the child form as any.

But Penmon was not. Odd as it was for a human to think of her digimon partner in this fashion, even when she looked at her own digimon waddle, all she felt was disgust, that sense of wrongness, and that glimpse of an alternate future, her looking upon a ruined digital world, a black Elecmon by her side.

Elecmon, a digimon that could easily had been her partner. There was more than one path a Tsunomon could take…

But that was not the source of Noriko's sorrow, simply another one of the many things one begins to feel sad about when one is truly sad…

She had seen the digital world, yes, she had seen it in those last hours. Oikawa's pain, Venom Vamdemon's defeat, the bonds were still there, there was still that level of kinship she felt with all others that had lived through such a thing.

But for her, a distant world could not overcome the reality of her own. Stupidity, more stupidity, children talking about such foolish, petty things, adults talking about some foreign wars fought for some silly reason, suffering and cruelty the way of the world, and those who did not fit their mold would be simply crushed. It was all so meaningless, so useless, she easily could have shouted to the rooftops that they were fools, not worth half as much as she was worth…

Perhaps it was that realization which crushed her dreams… Her hopes of teaching the next generation, crushed when she realized just how foolish and stupid humans were.

And when foolishness was all she saw, and with all she had heard of happiness through conquest, wasn't it right for her to rule?

And so she entered the digital world, in the same way Ken had so long before, succeeding him just as Daisuke could be said to succeed Taichi.

And on that day, it could be said the Digimon Tsarina was born.

"Digimon Tsarina." That's what they would say of her, the Digimon Tsarina, just a shadow of the Kaiser. Sure, it wasn't "Kaiserin", when every fictional human villainess in the digital world was called "Kaiserin" they had to use a new title, but the meaning was the same… Just the feminine form of Ken's title, a derivative of "Caesar" like before, they wouldn't even give her the courtesy to call her "Tyrant" or "Empress."

But why would they? It seemed all she did was follow in her predecessor's footsteps… Even her weapons, the same, sure, black rings were obvious and useful, and spirals, well, they were a natural progression…

"_But Ken Ichijouji did those exact same things, and I haven't come up with any ideas he didn't before me… I'm just a female, slightly younger version of the Kaiser with a Penmon instead of a Wormmon, nothing different, nothing original. Nothing."_

"_But isn't everyone just lost in the past these days? Iori-san and his friends don't seem any different… And besides…" _Noriko thought, smiling for the first time in years…_ "I won't fail like Ken did."_

_

* * *

_

Even if they had to grant this wish, this was not something they would do automatically, without hesitation, or even without sorrow… After all, it wasn't like they were just pressing some button and then flying off to wherever it is gods go, the consequences would be many, and few of those would be good for this world… No, even if this was their duty, it was a solemn one, the sort of atrocity no one feels happy to bring about, only bound to make it come to pass…

Sealed beneath the digital world, sealed by those who came long before the chosen children of old… None of them would simply break the seal and fly off content, perhaps they would not fly off at all.

"Even if we do owe them this…" Byakko spoke, his voice filled with regret. "We're called the harmonious ones, shouldn't we be keeping the balance? What the hell are we doing?" He finished, crying as he shouted those words.

Seiryu nodded, understanding the white tiger's anger and sadness. "But this is the digital world, and we must grant their wish… May those who follow forgive us…"

"May those who follow forgive everyone who lived through those days." Suzaku spoke firmly, his eyes alone among them not clouded by tears. "Every one of them wanted this, and it is not this world of boredom that can truly forge digimon's souls."

Genbu nodded, the ground opened, and the evils of the distant past entered the digital world.

Most of them, anyway. None noticed Byakko's subtle betrayal, or even how that map found its way into the chosen's hands…

* * *

"It's August 2nd now… Not that anything will ever change…" Sora thought, her sorrow still not fading. "Even if I do have a few more memories, even if yesterday had its happier bits… Today will be as boring as ever, I'll still have nothing going forward." 

"Sora?" Piyomon chirped, the pink digimon as upbeat and cheery as ever, even as her partner drowned in sadness… Their emotions were opposite now, no matter how close their bond.

She remained silent, the only movement a tear dropping down her orange-shaded hair.

There are stories of tears bringing miracles, of crying bringing one back to life, healing the world, or other such things. It was Mimi's teardrop that once enabled the crest of purity to glow, after all.

But Sora's tears would do nothing. Nothing, it was nothing in this world that would heal her sorrow, Taichi, Yamato, Takeru, Mimi, Piyomon, none of them could do a thing to end her tears.

But… This stagnant time, this time where her only happiness were in memories tinged with sorrow, that time she had only wished to end…

Though she knew not this fact, though it did nothing to heal her immense sadness, the gods had granted her wish.

* * *

News spreads fast in the digital world, and with the gates open, they were bound to learn of this soon. Gabumon had decided to spend the day with him, in his cramped, smallish apartment. Yamato had asked why, and the cloaked reptile only responded by saying "The digital world is my home, and our adventure crossed both worlds…" 

But now Gabumon's tone was far more serious, and when the false dog digimon returned, after the light faded all he saw was a very serious look. Gabumon was standing on his hind legs, horn directly up, even the false arms standing on end.

"So, it seems we have another adventure…"

"An adventure, you say?" The blonde asked, his voice cutting sharply through the few feet of air separating him from Gabumon. "This is just an imitation, a desperate attempt to create something as good as those before."

"Does it matter?" Yamato froze at hearing this, Gabumon's words piercing his coldness. "If it is a desperate attempt, will you not grasp at it anyway?"

"You're right." The chosen child said, already thinking of himself as an old man, looking back at a glorious past and forward to a boring future… "Still, I'll grasp at it, I'll grab at even the tiniest hope of something like before. As long as I live, I'll try desperately for another adventure… Even though it will never come."

"I thought so." Gabumon spoke firmly, understanding his partner well.

"_Besides… Even if Noriko-san is just a pale shadow of the Kaiser… I stayed behind during that adventure too."_

"Let's go." Yamato spoke, his look one of determination. "It may just be a pathetic attempt, but let's try it anyway."

Gabumon nodded, and then they departed, leaving for that worthless imitation of the past that called itself a future.

* * *

"So, what do we do now?" Taichi asked. The chosen children had come to meet yet again in the digital world, all having heard of the so-called "Digimon Tsarina", almost all torn on how to react… 

"Where's Ken-kun?" Miyako asked, her tone still filled with energy, even as the others seemed half-dead.

"I didn't want him to know…" Takeru spoke softly, and the others nodded.

"As for what to do… It's obvious, isn't it? She hasn't turned many digimon to her side, and we still have Sylphimon, Shakkoumon, and Imperial Dramon, right? This shouldn't be that hard." Hikari spoke, her timid self seeming… Different than usual, but it wasn't that she hadn't been bold to stop the suffering of digimon before.

"As long as our two hearts beat as one…" Hikari froze, her body still enough that it might as well have been encased in ice. "I don't think any of us younger chosen are like that anymore…" Takeru finished, and the one who had once brought hope to that world made eight others hopeless, all just looking downward in sorrow.

But the older chosen at least understood, and while they may not entirely like some of what it would bring, it would be lying to say there was no excitement or hope in their souls.

"Still…" Taichi spoke, his tone a soft, wavering one that seemed so wrong for him. "Greymon and the others are strong, if we strike now, before she can enslave too many digimon…"

"It could make us win." Sora answered, nodding. "_But… Noriko appearing here, right after a day like yesterday… It feels like my wish has been granted, and I don't want this last chance at adventure to slip by…"_

Though her words were not audible, it still seemed like the others had heard her, or at least thought those same things.

"I'm not staying." Hikari spoke, acting as if she were channeling the Taichi of old. "If you want to stay here, go ahead, but I'm fighting."

"I'll go with you, Hikari-chan."

The bearer of light turned, a warm hand on her shoulder, and then turned the other way, a gloved hand that finally seemed to show sympathy. "Daisuke-kun, Miyako-chan… Thank you so much. Digital gate, open!"

* * *

"They shall know… A superior being, one who was meant to rule this foolish world…" She spoke, her voice soft, too soft for one bent on world domination, most would say, nothing like the contempt-filled one of the Kaiser… 

But the hatred in the Leomon's eyes was not affected by her sweet voice, as the lion warrior raised his sword and the girl threw her spiral… And once again, a young child growing the seeds of darkness brought fear to digimon across the world.

Still, it seemed so easy, it was as if she would just take over the world in three days or so, and then go back to her home, bored regardless of where she was, the sort of omnipotent boredom that, in a religion with billions of followers, was said to have brought about the creation of the world… Still, she conquered, going about the digital world with intent to rule, knowing that, if nothing else, destruction can make someone feel better.

But her boredom, the hopelessness of the chosen, those bits of the price of victory not ending lives, or maybe just the sadness that comes when something truly ends… The gods would make that change, at least.

Noriko looked up from her Airdramon mount, looking not at the near-empty forest below, but at the three humans and digimon that still stood there, even after all else had fled her impending presence.

"Noriko-chan?" Hikari asked, the light one's voice heavy with concern, then turning sullen... "So, you've fallen…"

The Tsarina, upon hearing such a casual honorific, was angered, and one of her veins popped in that traditional anime display of rage. "Noriko-sama, if you must use that name." She spoke, still strong enough not to yell; yelling like that wouldn't suit an empress. "Let's see if –chan is a proper honorific for someone like me, Hikari-san… Leomon!" She shouted, and the lion digimon, nothing but white in his eyes, raised his sword.

"Tailmon?" She asked, turning to the cat and holding up that odd red device Koushirou had once dubbed a "D-3."

"Let's do it, it's been a while." The cat digimon said, her adrenaline finally pumping again, crying at the thought that she would finally be able to fight.

"Hawkmon shinka, Aquilamon!" Miyako held up her own D-3, and a giant red eagle took the place of the small bird form her partner had held.

"Let's do it." Miyako, Hikari, Tailmon, and Aquilamon spoke, their voices melding as one.

"Aquilamon!"

"Tailmon!"

"Jogress shinka!"

The red and pink spirits left their bodies again, sure… They flew up to the light, long-tailed energy versions of their normal form, but then stopped and returned to their bodies.

While this happened, Noriko, seeing no challenge here, called the Leomon back and flew on.

* * *

"_As long as two hearts beat as one… But we have grown to become distant… It's only been a year, and yet still… We've been so very apart..."_

With that, it seemed as if a door had been opened, and Hikari at last understood the sadness that all the others had felt for so long.

"_But… Now that I understand this sadness, aren't we all united again? Aren't we all together, if only in sadness?"_ She whispered, sitting down on the digital world's soft grass, her many-colored outfit ripping as she leaned forward, leaning only to use her knee for support. _"No… I didn't just want us to be together… I want to be able to lean on Miyako-chan or Takeru-kun when I needed it, I wish we could still support each other like that…" _A tear dropped down Hikari's face, rolling down her exposed knee to the ground.

"_Takeru promised to protect me, Tailmon's been through endless pain to find me, Miyako said I'd never have to fight the darkness alone… Yet here I am, seeing my soul crushed even as I triumph, my heart so distant from all of them…"_

Water streamed down the brunette's face, as for the first time in her life, she cried for her own sadness. Tailmon, Daisuke, Miyako, even Iori… They weren't leaving her to drown in her own tears, they were saying so many words to try to make her happy again…

If she had heard any of those words, perhaps they might have worked, perhaps she would have turned and smiled, their reassuring voices convincing her that the sadness she felt was for naught. But with her head buried on her knee and her ears waterlogged by tears, she didn't, and thus nothing changed.

"_Then again, these days… It seems nothing ever changes, nothing's changed for a year… We were this sad the day after it ended…"_

And the fact that it was the eve of change, or perhaps it's morn, the fact that Noriko's appearance as the Tsarina would bring great change, that fact did not even occur to them.

* * *

"_So… Noriko-chan's returned… But what now?"_

"_If she's beaten, it'll just end again… I'd like to say "One last adventure", but really, a couple more memories won't make me much happier… So how can I even fight?"_

"_If I don't… Nothing will ever change… But if I do…"_

"_I fear it will truly be over."_

Sora opened her eyes, still sad and uncertain, unable to enjoy the current adventure, because she feared so much that it too would end.Instead, she sat paralyzed, perhaps waiting for someone to come, perhaps simply too broken to move, even as what she had wanted more than anything had occurred… No, she would not move.

"So you're just going to resign yourself to your sad fate, even when things change."

Sora turned, caught a glimpse of the one who, for some brief period of time after her adventures, was perhaps the one she had been the closest to… And then she looked away silently.

"The day after our memorial, hasn't that struck you as odd in the slightest? Well?"

"It has." Sora answered, at last speaking to Yamato. "But…"

"You can't always just think about the future!" The bearer of friendship shouted back, remembering his own times, though then he was instead thinking of the past. "If you do, you'll never live…"

At that point, the one who had wished for this stood up. "You're right, Yamato-san… Thanks." She began, bowing to Takeru's older brother, the one she had been farthest from during the adventures and perhaps closest to once everything ended... But now she was determined to resume those adventures, Yamato's words had indeed reached her. "Digital gate, open!"

That's what she wanted to say, at least, and that's what she would say if she lived in a vacuum… But, even if she wanted desperately to leave, she too had a life and duties.

And it was for that reason that she would stay cut off, cut off and perhaps destroyed, the same way Oikawa had lived for so many years…

* * *

Happiness… Those days when it seemed life was something you just wanted to live, those people who simply being near would make you incredibly happy… Brought by many things for different people, perhaps falling in love did this for some, for some it might just be a console and gaming, for others, an anime series or something of the sort where it was worth living just to see another episode… 

Was that gone from this world now? It seemed it very well could be, and that thought was too sad for even Takeru's once-hopeful heart to bear.

"_After all… Even hearing of this new adventure didn't bring me any happiness… Will I ever be happy again?" _He thought, his heart still mourning this reality, but then…

"_No… I can't accept that!" _He exclaimed, at last feeling that intensity again, his life coming back to him. "And…" He nodded, understanding what he would do, no matter how many would come to hate him for it.

And even with what it would bring… His heart was smiling now, the thought that hope had returned to the digital world, that another adventure could begin, that the trait he had once been thought of as embodying he at last possessed again, that thought filled him with happiness.

Taichi Yagami saw the blonde-haired boy leave, realized his intent, and nodded sadly, but said nothing, perhaps simply understanding as a fellow chosen his sorrow. He didn't like it, but… He couldn't bring himself to stop him, even if it meant thousands of lives lost or ruined, he still couldn't raise a hand or question the younger chosen, he understood Takeru too well.

Takeru walked on, a slight pang of guilt flooding him as he passed by the one he once thought of as leader, but he continued to move, his determination the same as he left to bring about that new adventure.

* * *

He walked down that dark area in the digital world, his black clothing shielding even his face from view… As for who he was, all that could be said as he walked against the strong winds was that "he", if it even was a "he", was a biped of about human height. 

This suited him fine. He didn't wish for anyone to know who he was, not even the one he had come to contact… A reputation as a traitor, Noriko knowing she was being manipulated, he did not want any of that sort of thing.

So with a crumpled ball of paper in his hand, he walked onward, then onward still, until his suspicions of the Tsarina's location were confirmed.

In other words, he saw Noriko.

"Take this." He spoke, sending the piece of paper spiraling in the young girl's direction, until such time as it slammed into her back.

Noriko turned and stared at the paper. "What is this? I do not understand." She spoke, her tone firm and contemptuous, even as inside she was elated that such an unexpected twist had come.

"A map to death." The dark one answered, then turned around and walked casually away.

The conqueror opened up the many-folded paper, a hideous smile coming across her falsely innocent face. "This should do nicely." She spoke, grinning, and then she jumped up to one of the winged serpent-dragons she, like the Kaiser before her, used quite a bit for transport, and flew off, her dark laughter echoing into the night.

* * *

Time continued to pass, sadness continued to crush, and the day went on. Even in this digital age, news only travels so fast, especially when dealing with one who seldom lets any escape... And even when the news does travel, people are only so often in a position to know, all people have their lives, as boring and pathetic as they may be, and these lives often tear people away and leave them in no position to know. 

And there Sora was, her life seeming to merely be a barrier between her and that one world where, even if she became sad and hopeless there, it was still the place she had once found and perhaps again would find happiness. Specifically, she was flower-arranging with her mother, anice, traditional art, a feminine pastime, but it might as well have been anything, all it did was keep her away…

She tried to look at the flowers, pay attention to what she was doing, delicately putting them in the proper position… It wasn't possible, though, she just couldn't pay any attention to those flowers. They only seemed another foolish part of that world she called home.

"Leave." Sora turned, hearing the firm, commanding voice of her mother. She was confused, to say the least, she had never expected someone like that to actually ask her to go, let alone let her do so… But Somoe was also a mother, after all, and even as formal and domineering as she could be, she wasn't entirely unaware of her daughter's feelings.

"Huh?" The orange-haired girl answered, utterly shocked by that statement.

"Go. You're not in any shape to do this, and I haven't forgotten what happened four years ago. Go back to your world, my daughter."

The time when Tokyo was under siege flashed through the sad girl's head, remembering how her mother had disguised herself as a Bakemon, risking so much for Sora's sake, how she had at last accepted that her daughter was a chosen child… And perhaps that made her understand her mother's actions.

"Thank you." Sora said, a wet tear sweeping down her face, and then she got up, prepared to return to that world yet again.

Somoe Takenouchi watched on as her daughter left, hoping her daughter could somehow become happy, even as it pained her to see the girl so far from her, only able to have a chance at happiness in a world that Somoe could not even enter…

As Sora left, she was still crying, but there was still that slight bit of hope… And even if she was sad, the sadness somehow felt… Right, like even if she was sad, she was at least where she belonged, still doing what she lived for.

And besides… If what she had heard about Noriko was true, and if she somehow proved a decent threat, then maybe a new adventure really could start… In her current state, a "maybe" was enough to make her happier than she had been in the past four years, and for that reason she smiled. She continued her walk and opened the gate between worlds, knowing that whatever she would do, even if she had no idea what that was, she knew she wanted to be there, to stand in the digital world while it all happened.

* * *

Noriko examined the map, still not having deciphered it. It didn't make any sense to her, with her knowledge of the digital world's topography, and however long the black-haired girl stared at the piece of paper or ran over that encounter in her head, she still couldn't figure out what that stranger had meant by "A map to death." 

Sure, she was composed, and sure, she thought it would be helpful, but the text still confused her, and as much as it hurt her to do this… At least things would be interesting again.

Did she need the power? Perhaps, perhaps the chosen would rally or pull out some hidden power, perhaps she could lose after all. But even if she didn't, or even if it was a trap, she still had to know what was meant by "A map to death."

Swallowing her pride, she at last spoke, ending her hour-long trance. "Penmon, decipher this."

Penmon gazed at her human partner, the blue digimon remembering all they had been through over those seven short months… It wasn't much, they had no adventures to bind them, after all, but at least they were close.

Were. Were, not are. It's easy to judge falsely based on a day, to think one hates you when they're only in a bad mood, or even when you briefly see a person and misinterpret a reaction… But Penmon was convinced just the same, Noriko had never been this cold to her before, nor did she ever look so pained to simply ask her digimon a simple question…

Penmon waddled up to Noriko, briefly put her small flippers around her as best she could… Noriko may have, in her current state, been disgusted by her digimon's show of affection, but she leaned in to embrace her digimon just the same, no matter how humiliated she felt… _If the bird can read it… It's worth it, to end these times…_

A long time ago, when Devimon, wrapped in megalomania, attempted to conquer File Island, he once said "Your hopes and dreams are useless." For Noriko, and Sora, and Takeru, and Yamato, and virtually everyone else who had lived through that adventure, this seemed so very true.

Penmon continued to read, most chosen had arrived in the digital world, the adventure was supposed to have begun… But all that happened was that a blue penguin read a mysterious map and everyone else mourned.

* * *

Mourning… A lost world, perhaps, an adventure they had once had… They were sad, it didn't matter how soon things would change, even if it were only minutes it might not give them any comfort… As things stood, even if a few were better than others, even if this wasn't quite the day of memory, such memories stay in your head for longer than a day… 

Nothing had changed, it seemed nothing ever would… Noriko, as she was, had enslaved a few digimon and brought Hikari, the only one who seemed to enjoy this "victory", sadness. Beyond that, though… The wish was still not granted, and the map to death was still the world's only hope.

Perhaps that's why Penmon was able to read such a text, because the gods, to grant that wish, gave her the knowledge to do so.

"Noriko." The penguin said, trying to get the attention of the one who was still her human partner, for all the coldness she had showed of late.

"Have you found anything?" Noriko asked.

"It's written in an ancient version of digi-code, the text is often scratchy, and it refers to locations that have typically been thought of as forbidden. But I think I've figured it out."

"Very well then. It's time to learn of this "death…""

And beneath the digital world, they waited still, waiting like so many others…

At last the wait would end, and if nothing else, they would at least see if this could be a "true adventure," to learn if this future really could be anything more than just some feeble imitation of the past.

* * *

It had been a day and a half now, or so… Since that day, since those feelings had been arose in the chosen children… And it seemed something was happening, it truly did, it didn't look like a stagnant future lied ahead… 

And yet what had happened? A brief bit of nostalgic talking between the chosen children of old? Noriko's appearance, that appearance that still lacked even a reaction, it was just a brief flyover, really… A day can sometimes seem like a very long time, and these weren't the sort of days that just brushed by and might as well have been skipped… And yet nothing had happened.

Perhaps that was why, because the chosen realized just how stagnant everything was… A showdown like this belonged atop some high mountain, wind blowing through as those heroic digimon faced off boldly against the new tyrant… It didn't belong in some random forest, trees blocking the flight paths, attacks easily avoided through the thick branches and ample camouflage provided by those blue trees… But no one was in a position to make their first encounter a noble one, for them, in their desperation, it wouldn't matter how it began.

When it came down to it, the chosen (save Ken, who still would not return, and Iori, simply… outside and slightly pained, not wanting to remember either, perhaps…) did things simply enough… All they really did was have Koushirou map Noriko's flight paths, gate back into the digital world, and prepare for that battle that was, to them at least, better called a return.

So there they were. A few syllables, the many voices of child-level digimon melding together, the end-sound "mon" and the word "shinka", and then the names of their new forms, the chosen of old, two new allies, and their respective digimon standing together as one…

But Noriko's army of black-ringed digimon also stood as one, and victory would not prove to be an easy thing… This was what they all wanted, there was not one there who would rather have it differently…

They stood silently in the forest, freezing, perhaps savoring the moment, that pause one takes before the first step, even if it's a step to somewhere you're taking back to somewhere you belong, even if it's one you've gone through so much to take… Going back is just the sort of thing that isn't done without hesitation, no matter how much one wants to do so…

But it was done just the same, Sora had waited too long, and even if the others, with their lives and sources of happiness, could manage to hesitate… "Birdramon!"

To some, this would not even have seemed exciting… They were just watching a battle, they would say, anyone can watch a fight, no setting could make it _that_ interesting…

But this was only a beginning, and besides, for some of them, their spirits were so closely linked it didn't matter if it was technically their digimon, not "they", doing the fighting…

The phoenix digimon glanced at her partner, then turned, glad to at last be fighting to protect her again, perhaps this way she could once more truly live… "Meteor Wing!"

* * *

Outside the digital world, in that stagnant blue sphere called the earth, Ken and Iori continued to live their lives, trying to stay apart from the digital world… Neither had wanted to return down the paths of memory, neither even talked to the friends they had made in that place, not talking today, at least… Iori had learned much, too much, and had been made to take a life, something he still had not forgiven himself for… And as for the former Kaiser… He still thought himself unworthy of anything. 

Still, they ended up in that same spot just the same, even if consciously they wanted to stay away, they still kept walking until they found themselves at the portal in Hikarigaoka, the place where everything had began.

They faced each other silently for a while, perhaps seconds, perhaps hours, gazing upon each other as if they were still enemies… Sure, they had each saved the other's life near the tail end of their adventure, and they had begun to even think of each other as friends, what with the invitation and all… But for both of them, the two chosen children who did not want to remember, the other was just an annoying relic of their past…

Still they gazed upon each other, though, even with hatred in their eyes, neither was not willing to leave what seemed to be the only one either identified with… So they both stayed, faking hatred for as long as they could, but neither walking away.

Perhaps if they had gone with the others, they'd be happier right now. Or perhaps they'd just be drowning in their sad memories.

* * *

Battles are often a painful thing… By their very nature, pain will be felt, and no one likes to see those they care for suffer… But as Sora watched Birdramon fight for her sake, as she felt the rush that comes from knowing the fate of the world may depend on this, she was smiling. 

She glanced knowingly at her comrades, those thirteen others that had fought by her side… And it seemed, at least for now, that she was not alone anymore, that they were all the same.

It wouldn't last, of course. Even now, Birdramon was outmatched, defeat was imminent, it would probably only be minutes until her emotions turned to sorrow and regret, crying that her deeds had caused another to be hurt…

But for now, at least, she was happy. And as she gazed at Takeru, noticing he had that same happiness, she hoped she would forever be able to look back fondly on this day, that she would have another good memory.

And then Birdramon fell.

The rest of the battle was pretty much a blur to her… She remembered calling out Birdramon's name, she remembered hearing the others fight on, staring at her wounded digimon partner as they did… And then…

Well, here she was now, trying to bandage Piyomon's wounds, not even remembering if the battle ended in victory or defeat… It didn't matter to her, she had let Piyomon get hurt, hurt simply to fulfill her own desire, and even crushed as she was before… This still might be even more crushing.

"But… I had to do this, didn't I? Didn't I?"

She continued to shout at the skies, but they had no response for her… Bearer of love, named for the sky, her digimon winged in every form… And she still shouted at air, air which would not give her a response…

She should have been overwhelmed by sadness, she should have been truly filled with regret… Sora knew the emotions she should feel, she had felt them before, after all.

But part of her was still happy, happy that, even if her life was sad now, at least she could call herself "alive." It was a part that disgusted her sometimes, yes… But this bored individual desperate for adventure, why, at least in times of stagnant peace, this was her true self.

So even as she healed Piyomon, even as she apologized over and over again, she was still happy to at least feel something again… And remembering that time long ago, when she once restrained Piyomon from fighting, looking over her injured digimon the same as before and knowing if not for her, the wound wouldn't exist…

Back then was when Garudamon was born, perhaps the happiest moment of her adventure. And feeling it again, why, for her, an adventure was only beginning.

* * *

Even though it had long ended, even after the others had long gone away, Taichi Yagami stayed in that forest that had been a battlefield, sharply scanning his mind to wonder how it had failed... 

"It had to fail though, right? As long as I was leading… Daisuke should have led us, or maybe Takeru, he's the most experienced here… But…" The goggle-boy wondered, looking back at the time so close to the end, back when it seemed Noriko was truly beaten. "Birdramon and Kabuterimon were down, sure, and Garurumon was hurting. But she didn't have anywhere near enough strength in her enslaved digimon to beat even the ones that remained… Wait, that attack!" Taichi leaped up, shouting as if he had learned a secret of the universe, and then sat back down, crying for what it was.

Greymon's fall hadn't been normal… He assumed it was a well-cloaked Bakemon, Bakemon always flocked to dark lords, after all, and they could disguise themselves well enough. But a Bakemon couldn't have done that, right?

"It seemed like victory was so close…" Taichi began, and then nodded, remembering Takeru's oddness earlier, though his voice lacked anger. "I understand."

"Still… Chosen children, I failed you."

* * *

Takeru sat quietly in the apartment he called home, the apartment where only one thing had ever happened to consider it anything close to a true home… It was the digital world where he belonged, it still was. But that wasn't what he was thinking right now. 

"Two adventures, four years, I've hated the darkness for so long…" He thought, his role as manipulator was not one he took eagerly or anything. "But that doesn't matter anymore."

"Is Koushirou thinking and searching again, that same way he loved to for so long? Is my brother glad to journey again with his old friends? Is Sora happy just to end that boredom?" He asked, running a hand through his wavy, golden hair. "I think so… But…"

"Hikari-chan's mourning, I'm sure. Taichi-san still thinks himself a failure. And there are plenty of digimon who I, I who once fought so hard to save all digimon, made suffer."

He was sad and regretful, he really was. He was supposed to bring hope, after all, and he was sure he had plunged others even deeper into despair. But closing his eyes, his smooth face still stained with the tears he shed as he turned against all he cared for... He then thought of how things had been two days ago and the morning before, and knew it was best this way.

* * *

Hikari returned home, all the light she had meaning nothing. "Failure." She spoke, looking out at a part of the world she knew soon would be conquered. "I've failed before, though, it's more… We won, the world was saved, and all it did was make my friends sad…" 

"What am I? What should I do?" She looked deep inside her soul, seeing those bright white lights, ignoring her faded apartment. "I don't know…"

And with that, the girl cried, it seemed today the tears she built up for so long had finally come out. "I've never thought about myself, I've always wanted others to be happy, but… All I've done has only made them sadder." Tears continued down her face, Hikari no longer caring if anyone saw them, it did her no good to hide her sadness anymore…

Tailmon did see them, of course, and began to reach for Hikari with that gloved claw she had, but as she began to reach, she saw an endless darkness between them, and pulled her paw down, seeming unable to grasp her partner's spirit, or even put a slight scratch in it to let happiness sink through.

"Sadness… Isolation… Well, at least not isolation, even if we're both crying, I think Miyako still understands…"

"But Tailmon couldn't jogress with Aquilamon, are you sure she understands? Are you sure you're even close to her?"

And Hikari's broken spirit could find no answer to that sad thought.

* * *

Jou Kido had always seemed to be the strongest of any of them… After all, his crest, mistaken as they were to do so, had once been translated as "Reliability", and even when it was gone, he still seemed to manage through everything stoically, shrugging off Gomamon's jokes and Whamon's death so easily… Not until the end did he even search for his own self, and he had always been the responsible one, the rock they could rely on… 

And after the adventure, as far as any of them could tell, he drifted away into his study of medicine, his test results solid, and, if not happy, he still had that engulfed quality to him…

What would they say if they knew that he too was broken, that inside, the tears flowed for him just as much? What would they say if they saw the rock of the chosen children cry?

_But am I even their rock anymore, how much was I even with them? Every time their sorrows returned, where was I but hiding in some silly textbook?_

So saddened as he was, he would not let his tears flow, still not thinking himself even worthy of crying… Sure, he was supposed to be sincere, but without his crest, in this new millennium of boredom? He was not Jou the sincere, he was just some broken medical student, useful, perhaps, or maybe only seeming that way to hide, his soul hidden on some deep, endless sea he could not in navigate.

But, for all his lost sincerity, he still would not cry.

* * *

As for Koushirou… He was pondering, ever-pondering, the same way he used to be… "What caused this? What connection did it have to our Odaiba memorial? And… Who was it that took down Greymon?" he spoke, wondering aloud what had happened. 

He still feared the answers, at least a little. But sitting at his Pineapple, running all sorts of programs to analyze recent events, well, he was... Excited. His eyes were bright with anticipation, the same brightness he had as a young child, and at last he truly wished to learn again.

Until the results came up… No miracle can end life's endless setbacks, and even if he wasn't with regret…

"That blast came from Angemon!"

As he said this, his eyes turned to that sort of look best described as "sheer horror."

"What was that line again… In order for something to be given, something of equal value must be exchanged?" Koushirou spoke, trying to remember… And after all, that anime did seem quite familiar right now, he remembered all too well how Edward had felt when he learned of the makeup of the philosopher's stone.

Or perhaps worse, after all, Al hadn't gone ahead and used the stone behind Ed's back. Betrayal, loathing, and guilt… But still he understood.

Right now, he'd rather just be curious.

* * *

In another of Japan's many apartments, in a room darker than the caves in which he once angsted, Yamato Ishida continued to walk the path of sadness. "The adventure's returned... It truly has." He spoke, nodding and seeing the future all too well. Noriko would lead a formidable army, be struck down, three more slightly connected villains would emerge in turn, and then a final foe who's tale could be described in two simple episodes… Formulaic, maybe, but that was the way of the world. 

Perhaps that was what caused him pain, the world did seem too formulaic, the future merely an inferior copy of the past… But he knew that wasn't all. No, there was something more, even if he hadn't grasped it yet.

"What am I good for?" Yes, that was it, even Gabumon had not truly launched him past the darkness that nearly swallowed him so long ago, he had only delayed it for a while. "Weakest among the chosen, supposed to bear friendship, yet holding my deepest sorrows alone… It was only at the end I looked at the crest as anything but a burden, so… Shouldn't my freedom from it make me happier?"

It didn't, though, even if he thought it should. All he saw was a new adventure, a desperate attempt by the world to make him happy… And he couldn't be more undeserving.

His thoughts then turned to Takeru, the brother he was supposed to protect, to be there for, all that other stuff an elder brother's supposed to do. No, he wasn't even doing that, not even offering the younger brother a reassuring voice, even if he was sure that Takeru too drowned in this agonizing sadness.

But for one as pathetic as himself, that made enough sense… He had tried to compensate, sure, but his life had been nothing but isolation and imitation, nothing matching up to his adventures of old… And even now, finding this new adventure, he still didn't seem any happier, only carrying the same angst he had all his life, digimon or no digimon.

And even in the human world, he looked around where his apartment once stood, and saw a dank, dark cave, this time with no Gabumon by his side.

* * *

"I… I never wanted to fight… I never wanted to hurt anyone…" She had never been a warrior, after all… While the rest fought so coldly, and even Sora could easily order her digimon to kill… She had been the one making the graves and mourning her dead friends. No, these times didn't suit Mimi well, she couldn't say she liked it… Or could she? 

"After all… I'm with them again, if nothing else. I've been living in America for so long… But I always missed them."

"Are you? Even now, do you sit with the other chosen, bonded by memory and friendship? You weren't even this separate when you were fighting the dark masters. You may be close to all of them, or you may once have been… But they've all gone their separate ways."

Mimi tried to ignore that dark voice, but perhaps it was right… After all, according to Koushirou, the other chosen had given up both crest and digi-core, their digimon could no longer reach perfect-level, all that stuff… So maybe she was different, maybe she was still tied to the digital world, if only because she still had her pure, soft heart.

Were her friends dead now? Thinking of yesterday, it was hard to see, they seemed the same, digimon and human alike… _The years may had changed them, but they had not yet destroyed them, had they? They were still chosen, still bound by that memory, weren't they?_

_Weren't they?_

_These days, it was so hard to believe they truly had stayed the same… After all, if the bond was still there, wouldn't they all be together right now? Wouldn't they still be with her?_

But even if they were, how long could they last, with only a few months of memory to bind them? They couldn't stay together forever on the strength of a few memories, after all, much as this saddened her… Even if they were close, already it seemed they, or perhaps we, were running out of things to talk about…

So Mimi, Mimi the pure, instead found herself in lonely isolation, no longer even able to live for those few times they met.

But even in those times she looked back on, the memories she cherished so much… Even back then, she was crying inside.

* * *

Day turned to night, the second day of this August of adventure was passing… But even still, was anything different? Save one battle or so, it was almost the same as yesterday… 

The day of memories… Happiness, sadness, it brought both, but at least there they had intensity, if nothing else… So its extension into this feeble adventure… It was a good thing, right?

But the adventure was weak, almost disgraceful, perhaps unable to carry on that greatness of old, or even come close. And even their adventures weren't always times of happiness, no matter how much they missed them when they ended…

And it seemed nothing would dry the chosen children's tears.

* * *

The map had been deciphered. Like so many before her, Noriko stood before some dark entity, prepared to bring about said entity's return… How many others in how many tales had done this? How many distant evils of great and terrible power had been revived? Maybe it wasn't the Kaiser's deed (Though she supposed Chimeramon had been similar, though created instead of revived), but the similarity was still there, not even the dark seeds could bring the originality she sought… 

Regret? Was this something she would come to regret some day? Fear? She was facing a horrible evil, one a group of chosen children far before Taichi had risked their lives, perhaps lost them, to stop… Did those chosen feel that same sense of loss, were they as destroyed as she had seen Iori become? Did they die in battle, going to some afterlife and at least not having to live on in this boring age? Or did they somehow find a way? She was wondering, yes, wondering indeed.

But knowledge, that was something she lacked. It didn't matter that she was about to summon one truly powerful, it didn't matter that she had already conquered a tenth of the digital world, it didn't even matter that she had the same seeds that once made Ken a genius and a Kaiser, she was still just a foolish little child.

A foolish child, was that how others would think of her? No, she wouldn't let them, she would learn to rule.

"So… Why haven't I released him yet?" For that she had no answer, she still couldn't understand… But whenever she moved her hand closer, it froze, the terror seemed to be beyond even her consciousness, but not beyond her fragile, young body.

So she stood at death's door, prepared to release an ancient evil, probably creating the greatest threat her reign would have… Noriko turned, feeling a deathly chill on her shoulder, then looking at the ghost beside her. The Bakemon stayed silent, Penmon was too scared to even speak, those enslaved digimon she once had used to reach this place were left outside, and Noriko heard nothing, left alone with her thoughts, in the same way as so many others… Perhaps others would mean something, or perhaps everyone else was so crushed that Jureimon's words were right, that friendship and loyalty were just words, words that meant nothing to those in their darkest times…

The bonds of the chosen children, not even those were strong enough to make some try to bring others from their sorrow… Or if they did try, their bonds weren't strong enough to make any of them respond…

And Noriko's thoughts were jumbled and confused, so she continued her wait, the long night above not hastening her decision…

* * *

"Robots… Aren't supposed to feel pain." Andromon spoke, his voice dry and mechanical, not at all the sort that fit with his emotions. "We're supposed to just be programs, we're supposed to carry out our tasks without pain, sadness, or any of that stuff getting in the way… Maybe I'm just defective or something." 

It did hurt him, well, he wasn't sure if "hurt" was the right word. He didn't have any visible wounds or anything… Leader of the resistance, a digimon who had seen his world taken over, so many comrades who had been killed, and back then at least, he stoically stood through it all.

But now… He was a robot digimon, dammit! His kind was **designed **for boring, mindless, repetitive tasks. Why, hadn't he spent a good chunk of his life at some bizarre factory, assembling things then disassembling them as part of the same silly, pointless line?

That didn't mean he wasn't sad, though, as unfamiliar as the emotions were… Robots can not cry, their voices are cold and mechanical enough that tone wouldn't get through, there was no simple action for his sadness… But the sadness was still all too strong, and that desire for things to change, that wanting to be with the chosen again… It didn't matter if he was just some android digimon, the desire was still there, and it was still powerful.

Ogres, for that matter, weren't supposed to feel kindness either. Unicorns were supposed to be aloof, bears of snow are never meant to leave their frozen land, nor Meramon to come down from the mountain… But compared to an adventure like that, compared to those times they all loved, compared to watching the world be reborn, what was destiny?

They all gathered again, their thoughts still taking them back to that plateau, four years after the end of the world… Human or digimon, it didn't matter, the memories were still the same.

* * *

"Sleep… I don't even know why I bother, sleep wasn't any help last night…" Sora spoke, tending to her injured digimon companion. "I should sleep, it is late, and Noriko-chan's probably in bed now. I don't need to stay awake…" 

But sleep would not come for her, night's warm embrace would not ease her soul… Time passed, 11, 11:30, it didn't matter if it was late, her regrets were too vast and her despair too deep for any sleep to come…

"Maybe… Are the others still awake right now?" She wondered aloud, unknowing if their sorrow had translated into restlessness, or even if their sorrow was strong enough to do so… Glancing down at Piyomon, though, her thoughts changed… She did want to speak with them, but first she had a digimon to care for.

"_Two days, probably the two most exciting I've had this year… We're no longer drifting apart, I'm becoming closer to Takeru and the others again… So why am I still crying?"_

"Because you deserve it." A darker part of her said. "You wished so desperately for something that would hurt so many, you didn't do a thing to stop it when the chosen drifted apart, you never even fulfilled the promise of your crest! Love is supposed to be as strong as hope and light…"

Were the voice not a part of her brain, but another person speaking those words, said person would have stopped, realized he had gone too far, and muttered a quick apology, or maybe Sora would have found a strong retort along the lines of "You don't know anything."

As it was, though, no part of her responded, for, no matter how much she probed her soul, she still knew this to be the truth.

There was a time when Piyomon would have tried desperately to cheer her up, or half the chosen would go to pull her out of her own sorrow… "Back when we were closer… But these days, all I think I'll find is more of this sadness."

She didn't think anyone would call for her, she was sure they were all asleep by now… But that desperate hope was still there, so she waited at the phone even now, hoping to hear Takeru's voice, or Taichi's, or Mimi's… Any of them would work, really, these days she would be happy to talk to Koushirou, just to hear another chosen child's voice right now.

But the call, that call she wasn't expecting in the first place, it wouldn't come, nor was there any hope to pull her out of her sadness. After all, the essence of hope still slept, or was perhaps the same as she was, drowning in sadness, desperate to hear another, yet too sad to even make the call…

Piyomon, like the others, like her partner, was sad too, sad and powerless… She wanted to help Sora, perhaps loved her human partner, if only in a platonic way… Still, it hurt her so much to see the girl she loved so sad, human and pink little bird, "love" might not have seemed the right word to most, most would say they were too different to love… But she had felt love's power, she had felt that caring energy come through and turn her into a mighty phoenix, then a mightier one, and she knew her feelings for the girl were strong…

And that's why, as Sora was being destroyed by sadness, Piyomon cried too, so sad she was that she could do nothing for her…

* * *

But they were all crying now… Chosen and digimon, any who had lived through that adventure, their sorrows different, maybe, but still so strong… Taichi may be saddened by the failure of his leadership this time, Mimi for how they had drifted apart, Sora and Takeru for how stagnant this time was, Jou, for all his steadiness, still feeling that sorrow he could no longer hold back, Andromon for reasons he, as a robot, could not even explain, Hikari because her victory made her friends so sad, Piyomon, and probably Gabumon, Agumon, Gomamon, Patamon, Tailmon, Palmon and Tentomon for that matter, sad because they could not reach the chosen… The gods wept too, if only for what they found themselves needing to inflict upon this world, or simply because their divine powers could do nothing for the saviors of this world, and Penmon cried for her partner's coldness… 

Eternity can seem to pass quickly, and a few minutes can seem like eternity… These days had been long, but their sorrows had not yet even waned… Pumpmon, Gotsumon, Wizarmon, Piccolomon, Chuumon, Whamon, Leomon, even Vamdemon, reviled enemy though he was… They missed all of them, great as adventures were, the casualties still brought them sorrow, the digital world had always been bittersweet…

Would it stay this way? Then again, these days, it seemed only bitter. If a new adventure came, wouldn't it have that same suffering involved, that tinged bit of every victory that was only darkness?

But there was one who, if evil and uncertain, was at least not broken yet. And maybe it would be through her deeds, dark as they were, that could end this stagnant, doubled day of memory, and create the new adventure they had wanted so badly…

* * *

Noriko still stood at that place that, considering whom it held, could be referred to as "The gates of hell." And hell was indeed what she would bring to the digital world soon, a hell of the past, another repeat… These memories had been running through the heads of all of them for years anyway, what was the point, if she couldn't create anything new? 

She didn't see one. But she would still try, it didn't matter if it was pointless… A sliver of hope was better than no hope, a one percent chance was better than nothing, and a repeat that could barely, if at all, match up to the adventures of old was still better than this stagnant era.

So with that slight, almost invisible glimmer of hope in her eyes, she glanced down at the map and recited those words…

A ghoulish, ghastly digimon, an almost human-sized, small-winged black creature, an eye held in it's small, undead arms… Most would have expected something like Devimon, a virus-type nightmare soldier with a nice laugh, ability to channel powers of darkness, and really big and imposing wings.

No, this might not have had the right appearance… But the terror even the Tsarina felt, that was real enough, and the power he held… The ultimate level, that form beyond "complete" or "perfect" or "fully evolved"(Depending on which term you prefer), a digimon that could call itself truly powerful, one who was once sealed behind the wall of fire… A rival, or an ally, Noriko didn't know, and she had no clue what divine manipulations went into his release.

But at least now, she was confident things would be a bit more… Interesting. And with that she left, the rebirth of Deathmon complete, the ghoul's demonic, maniacal laughter echoing into the digital night.


	3. Chapter 3

_Adventure… It had been long, and even back then, they had been often sad. And Wizarmon, Leomon, so many others they cared for… The dead do not easily rise._

_But it didn't matter… Their third adventure was beginning now, and for that reason, if nothing else, so that they could have those strong, exciting, amazing times again, they would be happy. _

_Though compared to those times, it seemed nothing could ever measure up._

_

* * *

_

It had resumed… It was weaker, but it had resumed, and to them, it seemed that was all that mattered. Their times of happiness had been seldom, sure, light-hearted downtime was tempered often by fear or hunger, even if they did look back fondly… It wasn't that they hadn't had their happier memories, it wasn't that there weren't even battles they could look back on fondly, digimon they were glad to have met, all of that, it was truly an amazing time.

Still, it had resumed, and… Even Hikari, fearful as she was, somewhere deep within her soul of light did feel happiness. "It's just like I was back then… Being with Takeru and Miyako, knowing they would protect me from the darkness, winning victories over the worst evils in the world… It was so fun, and…"

She stopped, afraid to continue that line of thought. After all, she was of the light, kindly, the radioactive battery of the digital world, supposed to be a noble heroine, the world's glowing queen…

At least, she was like that, back during those days where the world was covered with darkness, those days she still looked back at with light. Now, with the… Hangyomon? Deep ones? Deepmon? She wasn't sure what to call those things, but between them and their undersea eldritch horror of a master, she had been more terrified than kindly last year.

"So this time I'll atone, I'll cleanse the digital world again, restored to my old self? No, I won't, much as I'll want to… No one can hold their sorrows inside forever…"

"_No one can hold their sorrows inside forever…"_ There was something familiar about that, something she almost remembered, in some weird way, even if she personally hadn't seen it.

She put the thought behind her, she needed someone right now… But she wouldn't burden Tailmon, she couldn't, a digimon that had felt so much pain searching for her, and then even more torment in Vamdemon's ethereal grip, she didn't need to see her partner suffer…

Then who would she talk to? She had never liked to burden any of them… Takeru had sworn to protect her, sure, and their digimon were close, but they weren't as close as Daisuke and the others thought. Ken? If there were any with a bigger burden, she didn't see it, only noticing her gentle friend always being crushed and twisted by the memories of his past. Miyako? She wouldn't do it, just like she wouldn't go to Tailmon now, they were too close for her to even think of causing the other girl pain. Daisuke? It seemed his childish infatuation of old had faded by now, but even still, it would be way too awkward.

So she stayed alone, desperately needing a shoulder to cry on, but fearing she would break whichever shoulder she used to rest her head.

* * *

A black imp in a black forest, darkness to his left, darkness to his right, the sun had not yet risen. There might have been digimon there, but if there were, they were silent, not yet having lost the will to live. The ghoul's body was odd, deformed, with a long black tail and red, batlike wings. He tossed his detached left eye again, up and down, up and down, then resting in his steely silver claw, almost as if he was just performing some relaxing exercise, and then…

"There!" The eyeball spiraled through the air, his small wings spread and flapped quickly, and aided by this new range of vision, the data-type digimon sped to his destination. Then, balancing the eyeball on his tail, the digimon thrust his silver claw into the bushes and grabbed a poor Betamon that had the misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and didn't manage to find a good hiding spot.

Then he squeezed, digging his three triangular claws only inches into the Betamon's neck, then watching dispassionately as the child digimon disintegrated into green and blue bits of data. The task at hand complete, he turned and flew, his black wings carrying him up above the treetops, while the other digimon of the forest were left paralyzed by their absolute terror.

After that, he casually dropped his eyeball down into the forest. When the fog of darkness lifted, it was plain that there were no survivors.

From a cliff not far from there, Noriko was watching.

* * *

They had gathered again, the eight chosen of old in the digital world, once more trying to save the world… It may be a dark, serious time, but… Just being together again like that, they had to converse, even if they had little to say. They wanted to laugh with each other again, to feel happiness as a group for the first time in, what, four years?

Still… They had so little to bind them; they were at least a little silent now. It seemed all they had to speak of was the past, and they wanted to look towards the future… They were already saddened, already with so many troubles, already isolating themselves even as they thought of their friendship…

"No wonder the digital world keeps finding new chosen… We can't even talk anymore, let alone save the world," Yamato broke the silence, but… It wasn't right for something that sad to break the silence, someone should have said something happier, they should be able to converse about something with a bit of happiness and a light-hearted air about them once more…

"Yamato…" Mimi spoke, glancing over at the oft-angsty bishounen, the only one who seemed to share her sorrow.

"_Yeah, great going there, the only one you're at all like is the one you never even talked to during that adventure…"_

"I don't mind…" Takeru began, his faded innocence perhaps not as gone as it appeared. "At least we're together again…"

Part of him wondered what he was doing; he wasn't usually anywhere near this sentimental… Then again, it had been only two days since that day of memory, they were adventuring again, and he had known it the longest, so it wasn't that odd, right?

"So, what sort of black-winged evil awaits this time?" Taichi asked, knowing he should at least try for that sort of happy, light-hearted tone they once had so easily even during dark times…

"_Even during dark times… Was it really? Have we even joked around this way since that night when Vamdemon took Tailmon prisoner?" _

"Though we know not what evil awaits… The one with goggles shall lead us," Yamato spoke, his voice taking some odd, dramatic tone. Had it only been two days since he considered attacking Taichi, since he thought he'd be willing to slay his leader and close friend for some pitiful attempt at happiness?

Sora laughed happily, her heart seeming to have found peace again… "But is it Taichi or Daisuke who is the true goggle-head?"

"Let's hope for Taichi, I've already had one adventure as effective leader," Takeru answered, his voice jocular and barely suppressing a giggle, and he too was smiling again. Mimi, knowing how many digimon would suffer, Hikari, her enemy resurgent, Taichi and Yamato, Jou and Koushirou… Even after all they had gone through, even with all that was happening… They were smiling, too.

Their adventure resurgent, their lives meaningful… They continued to speak, not saying much, maybe, but they didn't really even need to… They were walking in the digital world, taking out a black-ringed digimon every now and then, nothing much, but it didn't matter… Just being together like that was enough, together in the digital world, stopping various evils; that was what they lived for, after all... And inside Takeru's shirt, it seemed there was again a faint, yellow glow.

"We're in danger now, we shouldn't be this happy…" Jou began, having often stated this sort of thing before. "But…"

"We've waited so long for this, let's try to enjoy it." Those were Hikari's words, Hikari, the one who was supposed to be triumphant, the one whose dream seemed to be coming true until that day of memory…

"Right." That was Koushirou's voice this time, still having that happy tone to it. He was more knowledgeable; he knew how good a chance there was that everything could fall apart…

Hours passed like this, hours that might have been months or years, as time seemed to be slowing down for them… And this wasn't the slowness of boredom either; no, this was a time like those before, a time they wished could last forever…

And though it was faint, very faint, small enough that it might have just been an illusion… Hikari wasn't sure if she was just imagining it, but it looked like she had seen a trace of that odd glow of old, orange from Taichi, blue from Yamato, red from Sora, purple from Koushirou, green from Mimi, gray from Jou, yellow from Takeru, and gazing down at her chest, she thought she saw a slight pink glow.

* * *

It would not be eternal… An attack, something was bound to happen, they had never simply faced foes of strength equal to theirs… To be honest, it was probably a miracle that among the chosen and their digimon, there were only two casualties in the first two adventures, for all the desperate, dangerous battles they fought.

That said, it was still completely unexpected, there was an adventure now, sure, but the chosen had expected a reasonably light-hearted one.

A broken promise, a lost dream, a world betraying those who had once done so much for it… Was this how all adventures finished, how every quest in every world resulted, with either a sea of boredom or a pitiful attempt at continuation, even after all was meant to be over?

An end… People say "The end," people on the outside act like it truly had ended, but those who went through those times always live on. So, it was bound to happen, it had to happen, after something like what the chosen went through…

It came quickly when it did, devastating, yes, and so horrible that even the fabric of time seemed warped and it might have taken hours… But it was just seconds, truly, only a few seconds…

There would be no Chuumon this time to take the sword… Sacrifice wouldn't be the place of some broken, weak digimon, and it wouldn't be easy to endure, it wouldn't be done by one they had barely even known. It wasn't that they hadn't felt darkness before during this adventure; no, they had that battle. But it wasn't just feeling darkness, it wasn't just pain, if it were just that it wouldn't have done so much…

A quick charge, a metallic claw of nightmares, a pinch of death… Palmon didn't even have time to become Togemon, she never had a chance or anything… Mimi didn't have time to stop Deathmon or anything, she could barely move inches, and then only watch as her digimon disintegrated, watch as her face became overwhelmed by horror.

Those sixteen had been together for so long… Angemon had died once. Briefly. And been revived in days. Yet even that, even a death that lasted as long as a vacation, even that was a crushing blow that still ate at Takeru's soul…

There were many circumstances in Mimi's case, many things that would make her all the sadder than even Takeru was, and her sadness might indeed be never-ending...

"_I never wanted to fight… I never wanted to hurt anyone; I never asked to be made to save the world… And now…"_

Mimi froze, her tears flowing not like a river, as tears often do, but instead like an ocean, massive and never-ending. She didn't want to say the next part, or even to think it, just the same way that Palmon, when their roles were reversed, had once refused to tell her goodbye…

"_Besides… Even if I said it, the message wouldn't reach her spirit anyway… _

"_This world… I wish I could say that I hated it, that I always loathed it, that I was glad to run to New York and leave it behind me… But it's not true. Back then I was always complaining, it wasn't that wrong for others to think me whiny, I was, after all…_

"_But I was happy then, happy to meet all those digimon, and even over those past few days… I can't say I didn't like it, I can't even say I'd go back in time and change it without hesitating, much as I loved Palmon…"_

"Palmon… Palmon…" She was speaking those last words out loud, falling to the ground helplessly and weeping for that digimon, that digimon she had been so close to, that digimon she had lost.

Once, when a chosen child was in darkness, or lost in sorrow, the said chosen would feel a comforting furry, scaly, or in her case, leafy hand upon her back, and the pleading words of a digimon trying to make that chosen child happier… But Palmon was dead now.

* * *

Mimi Tachikawa left the digital world soon afterwards. She didn't want to stay, didn't want to remember, didn't even want to think about the digimon she had lost… In the back in her mind, she knew that the others were adventuring, that they had resumed their quest to drive out whatever unknown evil threatened the digital world this time, and they were her friends; she should be with them, she should be trying to avenge Palmon or something…

"_I won't go back there, though. I don't want to remember the digital world. All I've ever felt there is loss…"_

Running away… That's why her family had dragged her to New York in the first place, an ocean, a continent, a language barrier, none had even heard of digimon going that far back then… And perhaps now she finally understood why they had wanted to run away.

"_I can live this way, right? America's not a boring country or anything, and New York's among the least boring of places there… I'd have to lose a few people, sure, but it's not like I've never lost anyone to THAT world before… I can survive like this, can't I? There's no reason I can't just stay away, leave Sora and Jou and all the others, forget the digital world…_

"_Forget the digital world…"_ She wanted to do that, she wanted to forget it so desperately… Her memories, strong, maybe, but they were all so sad… Chuumon, Piccolomon, Whamon, Wizarmon, Leomon, and now even Palmon, Palmon…

"_I don't want anyone else to die for my sake… I can leave that world behind, somehow… I'll manage to just forget it, I have to…"_

"_You have to? Would Palmon have wanted you to abandon that world?"_

For that, the brown-haired girl had no answer.

* * *

The other chosen… Sadness in the digital world was nothing new to them, no, it had been all too common. After all, wasn't that what they had felt from Pumpmon and Gotsumon's deaths all the way until the end of that first adventure?

But… They had joked around so recently, they had wanted this adventure, all of them, and look at what it had led to… If all any of them had felt was regret, then it would be easier, regretting something you've done, no matter how horrible your deeds were, was much easier than this…

They dispersed before long, none of them even wanting to be together still, if only because their togetherness would remind them of who was missing… The adventure, if not discontinued, would be ineffectual, Noriko and Deathmon would end up ruling. If they left, they truly would be abandoning the world they loved to a sad fate.

That thought did not cross any of their minds, though; their emotions were strong enough to keep it from surfacing… Times like these have a way of making people forget their concerns.

No, their thoughts were… Well… It can't be said with a word like "They," they did have their differences, after all, and in both thoughts and body, they were alone, alone like they had been ever since that amazing time had ended and they left on that inter-dimensional train. And alone they would stay, and for those nostalgic, desperate beings called the chosen children, "alone" is a crushing state, a very crushing state indeed.

* * *

"_I wanted this, didn't I? And even now that all this has happened… I'm living again, if nothing else… Being with them, even if only for a few minutes, being able to talk to them like that, that thrill of facing an unknown enemy for the fate of the digital world, all of it…_

_"I don't even mind this fear and regret so much, I'm used to it, and besides… Even with all the bad things that happened lately… I was still so happy…"_

Sora shook her head, reality's cold breath upon her. _"But Palmon's dead now, and…" _She halted, remembering the words Taichi, during in a darker time, had once spoke, and those same words fit her thoughts perfectly right now.

"It's all my fault, it's all my fault!"Taichi's voice in the sands of server, or Sora's in an empty room… It seemed they were melding together, past and present, two people, one feeling… It sounded almost romantic that way, and some had thought her and Taichi a couple, sure… But the feeling was not one of caring, or anything of that sort, instead simply one of great sadness and regret, and those words continued to echo across years and dimensions, the sadness the same.

Were Palmon still alive, or if somehow she had a fate like Wizarmon, her spirit able to look down upon the living… She would be weeping now.

But she was not, and so she didn't.

* * *

Abandonment… A path he still wished he could take, an end he had tried so hard over those past few months to reach. To leave everything, to travel through time and erase that part of his past, erase his guilt… That was his wish. But since he couldn't, he merely strove to put the digital world behind him, crushing ethics, respect and memory the same way he once crushed digimon under his iron-fisted rule… And it seemed he was succeeding too, it seemed he truly was living normally. But his angsty, regret-filled past, the crushing wait of self-hatred on his shoulders, that would not disappear soon.

"So, you want to forget, is that it?" Ken turned, Hikari's pointed hair swaying beautifully in the breeze. "You can't escape this world, you know."

Ken, coldly as he was staring the girl down, with as little emotion as he showed, was still fuming underneath. "_First Iori, now her… Can't I just leave that childish world behind?" _He thought, still wanting to believe that time was meaningless, it was so much easier to believe such a thing. "_Maybe I can't, maybe I am just running away… But…"_ His thoughts began, then paused.

"And you can't hold onto a dead world forever. Grow up, there's a life beyond digimon, y'know, and that one's a lot better these days."

"Is it? It's a pleasant escape, I'll give you that. And call me a child if you want, I am a child, a chosen child…" Hikari's voice was firm now, determined, even her questions piercing, all the things different from the quiet, timid girl he had known as a chosen child. "But… That strength of spirit, or the excitement that came simply with living… Do you still have that these days?"

"_Do I? Could anything ever measure up, has anything ever brought out that emotion? Have I ever cared for anyone I've met these days anywhere near as much as Wormmon? Have I ever been as happy as I was when Belial Vamdemon disintegrated? Or…"_ He paused again, not ready to admit this last thought, but his mind pushed it through anyway.

"_Have I ever been as nostalgic, as caring for the world and longing for my past, dark as it was at times, as I was two days ago?"_

_

* * *

_

It rang. She knew it would, of course, she knew it would eventually… They were friends, after all, and even four years of oceanic separation could not change that; their closeness still remained. Maybe the American chosen would know, maybe she'd just talk to Michael or one of the others, but… Sora still had a strong feeling that it would be her trying to console Mimi, her that would soon feel the younger girl's pain all too clearly…

And of course, it was she who had made that wish.

"Moshi-moshi." Sora grasped the phone and spoke those words, a traditional greeting, none of that emotion in her voice, even as regret permeated her thoughts and overwhelmed her mind.

"Hi." Mimi's response was the same, a greeting like so many had spoke before, not yet wanting to even bring it up… _"Maybe it's not too late, maybe I can take my mind off Palmon and still be happy with the other chosen…" _They were silent for a bit, each knowing what the topic would be, each too saddened to even speak of such a thing.

But Sora, she had to say something, even if she was choking up inside from that wish she had made… "I'm sorry."

"Sora…" Mimi hesitated, unsure what to say after that, knowing the words that should follow, the reason she had called, but hesitant still, afraid even speaking about it would bring her sadness flooding back, or maybe "make her even sadder" would describe it better, she was still crying inside, after all. But even if it wasn't her adventure personally, she had heard enough of Yamato's story to know bottling everything up didn't work well. "I miss her… I miss Palmon so much!"

She burst into tears after that, her emotions always strong, never easily suppressed, Mimi wasn't the sort to simply quietly speak words of sadness. The red-haired girl held her hand to the phone, her arm shaking, her mouth still silent.

She wanted to say she had wished for this that day, she wanted to tell someone she had desired another adventure so badly, and so soon before it happened, that she felt it was her fault… Her sadness and horror were growing, perhaps still having the caring called "love", but certainly not having any of its positive aspects… Still, Mimi was her best friend, the years could not change that, and it was her place to console her friend…

"I know what you mean…" Sora began sadly, knowing all too well the crushing loneliness, but a different sadness was also seeping into her voice. _And yet even now, I just want this adventure to continue, much as it's brought Mimi sorrow…_ "But Patamon and Wormmon were reborn, right? And until then, if it's any help… I'll be here for you."

Mimi smiled at this, though of course her smile would not be carried through the phone lines. "Thank you… Just being there, I need someone to cry to, if nothing else… This really means a lot to me, Sora-chan."

Had Mimi yelled angrily at her, had she called her a killer, blamed her for Palmon's death, called her a traitor to their world who's foolish desires endangered us all… Sora would not have been made this sad. But that thanks, those words of thankfulness even when it was her wish that brought about all this tragedy... That was far, far worse.

But still, Mimi needed her, evil as Sora was inside… _Besides, after all the suffering I've caused, all the suffering that I'd still rather see… The least I can do is offer a shoulder to cry on, I owe them that much, even though it makes me even sadder._

_

* * *

_

Noriko, the dark seed child, the so-called digimon Tsarina, was once again wondering how to continue her conquests. This digimon she had released would certainly make things… Interesting. Whether he proved to be ally or enemy, he'd still make things more interesting. But there were only so many things that could be done when taking over the world with dark towers, and Ken had done most of them. So she was plotting, thinking, hoping her mind would somehow come up with some brilliant idea and her boredom would finally end…

For thousands of years, people had been writing stories, and being the well-educated genius all with the dark seeds implanted become, she had read many of them… But this was her story, and yet all she could find was that which had been repeated before.

With those in thoughts, she walked down to her new base's dungeon, a cute little Betamon lying there, fearful of what would happen... If nothing else, she could find entertainment soon.

She brandished her whip, the Betamon just resting, the evil ring making him too complacent to actually desire escape… It was a bond between him and Noriko, as long as the evil ring stood, stronger even than that between human and digimon partner, but utterly one-sided, the Tsarina… She thought of them as nothing more than slaves.

Crack! The ring was shattered, and the Betamon was "freed." In truth, the thoughts going through his mind were anything but jubilation, freedom was nowhere near his feeling, even if he could once again control his limbs. He had been made to kill, after all… He had attacked his American partner, close as they were once, and his future would be nothing more than torture, a whip cracking against his scales as he would cry out in pain…

He wanted to attack the Tsarina, oh, he wanted to attack that Kaiser-wannabe bitch so badly… From the view of an outsider, a normal human unknowing of digimon, it would look like some dressed-up little girl being savagely zapped by some sort of hideous froglike beast, how ironic it would seem…

The Tsarina was surrounded by bodyguards, two armed Musyamon, two Bakemon, four adults against one child, and one wounded quite badly from that battle, at that… He wasn't in any position to effectively resist, but that wouldn't matter either, a fight like that was heroic, and maybe he'd be accidentally killed or something nice like that…

But… That's what the Tsarina wanted, that's why he was released, after all, so she could have the pleasure of crushing his spirit… So instead he sat, not defiantly but simply half-dead, as if no pain would mean anything, as if she would just be breaking someone already broken…

But when the whip came, when it pierced his scaled and created that searing, crimson wound, he could do nothing, nothing but scream in sheer agony.

* * *

Taichi, Yamato, Sora, Koushirou, Mimi, Jou, Takeru, Hikari… Their struggles are well-chronicled here, and similar, they were the ones for whom this adventure was made, after all, though perhaps it was some more than others… Ken and Iori, they were fading, wishing to abandon that world, no amount of destiny or other such concepts would change that, and they were not so much feeling addicted to that time of adventure as cursed by it.

Miyako, though, and perhaps Daisuke too, for that matter… It is time to chronicle their actions, this third day of August would not pass by them quickly.

A broken promise, a life unfulfilled… She held two digimentals still, love and purity, sitting in her D-Terminal as a reminder of what once was… And she couldn't help but feel that this wasn't reality, but some demented, horrid alternate timeline, that things were meant to be different, that her adventures should continue, or at least she'd be studying to be a housewife and dating Ken-kun, or something… Yeah, right, like _that_ future suited her, but still… Sitting at home, bored, so distant from Hikari-chan and the others, so far away… Heroes, chosen, call them what you will, but they weren't supposed to endure this sort of thing, it was meant to fly by them, a minor interlude between adventures…

It wasn't supposed to be this way! Her adventure shouldn't have ended up this incomplete, while Iori went through his long processes of forgiveness and figures from his past, Hikari-chan struggling so desperately again the dark ocean, and Ken-kun at least had plenty of struggles, and besides, his banishing of Demon counted for something, right?

But… She supposedly had an adventure, she had seen the digital world, and perhaps Hawkmon fought with the rest of them to save both worlds… But what had that adventure truly brought her, was she not as energetic as when it began, did she not deal with the exact same issues? Sure, she had a few lasting friendships and fleeting loves. (Or perhaps not fleeting, in that one case.) But her bond with Hawkmon, save that one time when they were looking for the Kaiser's base, was so weak. Her crests still seemed unfulfilled, she may not have ended up the nympho so many thought, but she was still reasonably perverted, nowhere near the innocence one expects from Purity. And she was still lacking Love as well, even if she had once felt for half the chosen… She had loved many, maybe, but still… Ken-kun, Kou-kun, Hika-chan, did any of them ever know how her heart once pined for them?

"The digital world… I'll be intruding, this is their time, after all, and I'm just one of their successors, a newbie, so out of place in this adventure crafted for the chosen of old…"

Miyako sighed, wondering what she was doing. It seemed so out-of-character for her, why, it had barely been more than a year since she had stayed up all night wondering about the digital world and bugged Koushirou-tachi for the chance to go… "I'm not myself these days, I don't bel… Who am I kidding? Digital gate, open!"

* * *

They were all lost now, lost and crying, afloat on some logs, helpless before a Metal Seadramon's grasp… Daisuke would have done something, once, even now he seemed immune, he'd be riding with Raidramon and dragging everyone out of their thoughts and back into battle, finally leading the chosen children. He was strong, of course, it seemed now, even with Ken so distant, he was handling life with ease, not in that crushed state it seemed all his comrades shared… But while he was strong, he was not knowledgeable, he had never realized how weak the others were these days… Leomon, File Island's old hero? What the heck could he do, even had he lived, it wasn't like he'd be able hold them off anymore. Had the digital world ever truly had a strong hero like that, the sort who could save them without being crushed on the inside?

More to the point, Andromon's domed city was in danger now, under assault from air and land by the Tsarina's forces. "Hold them off, if only for a few minutes… Fight on, I must tell the chosen children!"

As the young Hagurumon fell, he looked back, hoping desperately that the complete-type android digimon was right about these heroes, as that was all the hope he had.

* * *

"So here it is… Another battle, a continuation of this adventure, even as Mimi's weeping because of that wish. I have to go, though, I might feel a little bad about it, but… The lives of innocent digimon are at stake."

"_Yeah, you're powerless now, powerless to stop what you still want…"_

"You'd have me not go?" Sora shot back at her cynical conscience. "You'd have me abandon these digimon, not even try to save both worlds?"

"_But when you are trying… Amidst the carnage, won't you be loving again, won't you be happy inside?"_

"Happy? Loving? With Mimi as she is now, with so much horror caused by my deeds? What sort of a person would…" She paused, realization seeming to dawn over her, much as she hated her realization so. "It doesn't matter, though, even if atonement and simple evilness lead me down the same path, I can't be there for her…"

_You promised you would… Is even your loyalty meaningless, are your words all fake?_

Sora sighed at this, knowing she wouldn't find happiness anywhere, though in truth, it seemed she did prefer this to what had been going on all too recently…

_Or will you just ignore it, ignore all the digimon dying, ignore those who've lost everything while not even accepting your wish?_

"So what do I do?" She sat like that for a while, unable to answer, so much more torn than she was even during that time in the cave… But ultimately, the digital world called to her, and so… "Digital gate, open!"

* * *

Otherwise, among the chosen… Jou would come, he was doing a little well on his studies, and though he could use the rest… The world came first. Koushirou, always the curious one, may have had some troubles lately, but be it the architecture, talking to Andromon, looking at a fully-functioning city of the Metal Empire, or even figuring out those many details of modern massive-scale digital world warfare, he wasn't going to pass up a chance for knowledge like this. Hikari, she was the light, even her name said it, and no matter how deep her struggles within were… She would fight on.

But… Taichi, he still thought himself a failure, thought his leadership was worthless, and besides… These days, he lacked the courage to fight. Yamato, he too was absent, the same as Taichi, really. He too thought himself worthless, and it seemed this whole day he was lost in thought… Mimi, Ken, Iori, they'd avoid it, of course they'd avoid it. They had abandoned that world, after all, or tried, at least… Daisuke was unknowing, else he probably would have come, had anyone seen fit to tell him…

As for Takeru…

* * *

He was sitting again, remembering…

_Patamon… How often were we together, back then?_ _We played together, back in the village of beginnings, and against Devimon…_ Yeah, he knew he could never forget that, how Angemon looked at him so knowingly from within his helmet, promising to return if it was his desire… How they fought so many times, how he had abandoned his digimon once, or perhaps twice…

_Pico Devimon… I know you wanted me to forget that, I did too, once… Such abandonment, such cruelty, I almost believe you did eat that mushroom…_

_And yet you stayed by my side through it all, even though I drove you away for thinking me and Onii-san cute… You forgave me then, everyone forgave me, I'm sure Pumpmon and Gotsumon did too, somewhere, if digimon stay intact in the afterlife…_

_Do they? When Palmon's reborn, will she remember any of what she went through with Mimi? Still, if someone had killed Patamon…_

"I would never forgive them. Devimon, he's lucky he died, and even then I tried to exterminate all digimon of his sort. They are dark and evil, sure, and I never coldly ordered their deaths when they begged for life or anything… But still, if Devimon lived, I'd make sure he'd envy the dead."

And after what had happened with Mimi… If the bearer of purity had wanted to kill him, and he was sure she did, he would have understood.

That said, the world needed saving. And he wasn't going to let Andromon and the others die, die as helplessly as Pumpmon and Gotsumon, killed so cruelly by some digimon of darkness, when all they desired was life… His energy back, if nothing else, he spoke. "Digital gate, open!"

* * *

And there they were now, assembled in that city of machine… Outside, outside it was a barren wasteland, a few Guardromon stood at the walls, sure, but it seemed that between it and anywhere else, all that was there was a boring, endless plain, where even the dirt was gray, and the dome couldn't help but look imposing standing out from it… The city itself was, interesting, at least, and… Hagurumon patrolling the streets, a bunch of shiny metal buildings, overpasses contained within blue transparent tubes, with a white dome at it's top, a word like "futuristic" describes it perfectly.

They had arrived there… They would have been amazed, normally, they would have been admiring this, even last year it wasn't this impressive... And most hadn't even gone then, most had only really the dilapidated digital world of old.

That said, when a Giga Dramon's bursting through the dome, a Deltamon's rampaging around the city, multitudes of controlled Guardromon are shooting their lasers, and a young girl in a Mecha Norimon's ordering them around, it is safe to say they had other concerns.

Once, things would have been different, when they went into battle… Ken would have been with them, shouting at Noriko, yelling how she was making a huge mistake, while the stubborn child ignored him… Tailmon would be remembering, but glad to protect Hikari, Mimi would have been mourning, wishing her allies weren't so violent… They were battling again, sure, good and evil clashed once more… But as Shurimon weaved through the many Guardromon's lasers, as Greymon stampeded through, smashing the robots holding their dark, evil rings, and as Angemon expertly threw his rod, disabling so many of his foes, it still felt like there was something missing, something vast, something gone.

The digimon fought on, their thoughts would not dissuade them… Kabuterimon thought something missing greatly, Koushirou wracked his mind to figure out what was wrong, but that Giga Dramon with the evil spiral still threatened so many digimon, so he fired his "Mega Shocker" just the same. Was it half-hearted, was that why, after a simple "Genocide Gear" he fell so easily?

Andromon stood forward, the perfect-level digimon clearly the strongest standing there, at least on the side of good. The chosen? A few weak digimon, distracted by their thoughts of old, their crests destroyed, all grown too distant to jogress? They fought bravely, sure, and Andromon did like them a good deal, but as heroes, they were looking quite obsolete.

"So, the chosen send me some silly robot? This is just too easy." Noriko spoke, her voice emphasizing the "too," and having an odd tone of… Amusement, was that her emotion? This villain role suited her, she had taken so easily to it, no conscience interfering, and she spoke the words of evil so easily... It suited her well, as long as she was conquering, it would be fun. For now, at least.

But… How long? She had already overwhelmed a good chunk of the digital world, Deathmon could complicate things, maybe, but he hadn't really done so yet… There was this world, so easily conquered, and beyond that… Beyond that…

It was then that Noriko was inspired. But she'd overwhelm the digital world first, happier this way… After all, this was only the beginning.

And as the Spiral Sword crashed with the Genocide Gear, as the chosen fought on helplessly, thinking their battle so empty, despite what the gods had granted them… At least Noriko was alive.

* * *

Hikari watched the battle, so tempted to intervene… They were losing, if nothing else, and that power… She had so much, even without the light that made her very name, though, she was still happy. Miyako-chan, Takeru-kun, Daisuke-kun, Tailmon… Those days with them, trying to make the digital world a better place…

She missed them, part of her did, and its returning to her like this… She was strong, though, she had always been strong, even when she was eight she hadn't cried much, even Tailmon's past didn't make her shed a tear of sympathy…

Was she human? She didn't even know any more, even with as many people loving her as there were… It was her duty, her dream, that which would make her friends cry so much… The light within her cried out, wanting to be let loose, wanting to shine away the darkness…

But even Light had failed to bring happiness, and right now, though she was healing a few digimon even as she thought this…What good was her existence, if her victory only made her friends sad?

* * *

Andromon fell after that, his metal body clanking against the ground… The basic combat was fierce, sure, but it was even... But Giga Dramon, the lone perfect in a sea of digimon much weaker, was absolutely dominating.

And so, like many times before, the digimon of the chosen assembled, fighting an opponent so much stronger than any of them… And neglecting the attacks against them, they turned, and stood, and hoped their combined power would be enough to save both worlds…

"Autumn Wind!"

"Cat Kick!"

"Meteor Wing!"

"Mega Blaster!"

"Harpoon Vulcan!"

"Heaven's Knuckle!"

The attacks melded in midair, a multicolored blast headed for a powerful enemy, like so often before… Still, it was fun, seeing it this one last time, even if it did seem over… And as the rainbow blast hit the grey dragon, knocking him out as he flew, there truly was a feeling of real triumph in the air.

But how many times had the Kaiser been defeated, only to escape? Noriko wasn't much different, and it was only a small victory. That should have made them sad, that the war wasn't over, that digimon would still live in fear, that both worlds were still in danger, all that stuff…

But today, if only today, despite all that had happened… They were happy.

* * *

Times turned to a crawl again, the battle over, the impact beginning to seep in… But this was a day of victory, like it was four years ago, if only for a couple hours… The bitter part might happen, eventually, but for now…

Takeru glanced over at Patamon, the same way he did after every fight… After all, he had known, once, he knew all too well… "Thank you… You didn't die this time."

He spoke his words softly, putting his strong arms around the small rodent digimon… It looked awkward, yeah, but Patamon still squealed in happiness, happiness doesn't always look normal…

She looked over them, gently, almost motherly… They were almost like that, once, she so much older back then, even if the actual difference was the same… That vibe wasn't there so much, of course, it had all aged them so much… Nothing was normal for them, nothing looked normal, in this world it wouldn't even look odd for a human and a digimon to fall in love…

It was then that she caught Takeru's gaze. "Sorry… Am I intruding?" She spoke, her face blushing with embarrassment, she had never expected him to look back, after all. That was how she imagined it, she supposed, her gazing over always, Takeru always happy with another… But they were both chosen, both close.

Taichi was supposed to be her love, though, right? And Takeru was with Hikari… She smirked, remembering with amusement, the arguments, the fluff…

_I was falling then, wasn't I? Falling into that pit of viruses, that pit which brought so much horror… Nanomon was supposed to be our ally, I was never meant to die that way…_

_Our adventure with Etemon, it only really impacted him, turning him from gutsy kid to a true leader… Still, I have memories of that, he risked so much for me back there._

_Yamato-kun… We were so distant during the adventure, he was always so mysterious and sullen… I thanked him, once, he did save us from Pinnochimon, after all… But then he walked away, disappearing… Even if I dated him for a few months, the closest any two chosen had ever got…" _She sneered at this, it seeming all the more pathetic to her now._ "I still think Gabumon's the only one who comes close to understanding his soul…_

_Mimi-chan… We were friends, still are, and maybe once there could have been something more… We were always together, it seemed, even when we got back to the human world… We're still close, right? Still, I failed her…_

"No, you're fine." Takeru's response seemed sweet to her, almost soothing, as he let Patamon fly off and turned to face her. "So… What do you think of it?"

"It's been…" Sora began, her voice trailing off. _"Look at me, I can't even respond to him… I don't have anything I can even manage to say!"_ She blushed, embarrassed by her silence, but much as she moved her mouth, she would not finish that sentence, after all Mimi had gone through, she would not speak that final word.

"_I'm not to blame, am I?"_ Takeru wondered. _"Can she even speak to me now? I thought she didn't even notice, back there… Palmon, that wasn't my fault, right? It was some different digimon, right? Right?"_

Gazing out at her, he noticed Sora shaking her head, trying to erase the confusion in her mind that had stolen her voice. "Takeru... It's been fun."

And with that understanding, the knowledge he gained from that, the bearer of hope truly was happy.

* * *

Outsider, newbie, doesn't belong… None of them had ever said that, they had all welcomed her, they had always welcomed her. (Well, except Koushirou, but even he came around.)

But still… None of what had happened lately had changed that, she still seemed on the outside, even with all she had shared with the younger two, still unable to ever understand what goes on in a chosen child's heart…

Normally, of course, Miyako would have been awash with energy. Normally. Even during that adventure, she had only been like THIS once, there had only been one time she was ever truly sad…

"Hawkmon's fine, though. No wounds or anything, still as polite as ever… He might be the only one of us not suffering now."

"_Me, on the other hand… I'm not exactly happy, I still feel like there's a whole world they've lived in, and I've only tasted a piece of it… Even with all we've gone through, I feel exactly the way I did that day so long ago, back when I had no idea what the digital world even was…"_

"_So was it all for nothing, then? The others changed so much, it's almost like they evolved or something… And here I am, the adventure gone, but I'm no different than I was the day I've started…"_

Her sentiment wasn't a new one, far from it. But at least the other one to think that way, at least he had the tail end of his adventure, and what an exciting end it was, Piemon and all.

"Does this mean I have nothing, that it's too late for me to change?"

Once, in a very similar scenario, the other who felt this way felt a chomp on his leg and the desperate words of his digimon partner, and he truly was changed by them. Miyako had none of that, but…

She shrugged after that, a look of evil unbefitting a chosen child coming across her face. "My adventure isn't over either."

And after speaking those words, she laughed. And her laugh was the sort that would make even Devimon cover his ears in horror of what the future brought.

* * *

Hikari had many odd, unexplained powers she did not understand, but she was pretty sure accurate foretelling of the future was not among them. That said, she saw it all too clearly, just as she did the past, just as she remembered…

"Yesterday, the day before, even with all those fun times it brought… At the end of it, didn't we all end up alone?"

She remembered not the beginnings, but the end, not her sad, fearful nostalgia and sorrow born from victory, nor her amusing bits of adventure, slipping to near-death, getting that cryptic warning from Wizarmon, but how that last day had ended… Yesterday, only a night ago, after a day so much like this one...

"_And this morning, too, with all we said of friendship, with how close we all are… I might have left them, they might not have ever known, I might have been afraid… Still, I don't want the future to be this way, if I have to cry, I'd at least want someone's support…_

_"Tailmon, she's been close and all, and I'd expect she'd help me… She doesn't let on much, or at all, for that matter, but… I'm sure she's thinking about Wizarmon, and Vamdemon, and I'd hate to burden her anymore…_

_"What am I saying? She's my digimon, isn't she? And isn't she suffering again, even after all she had gone through? I have to at least do something…"_

"Tailmon… You're sad now, aren't you?" Hikari picked up the cat digimon, the digimon who's eyes were glaring sharply at her gloved paw.

The catlike digimon gazed up at her, but would not speak… _"I've waited forever for her… We should be closer, we really should, and her sweetness has certainly helped me through the darkness. So why, why can't I tell her when I'm suffering?"_

But soon she felt Hikari's hand on her back, stroking her, petting her, the same way a normal housecat without any sadness or destiny would be petted... _"Her other cat, the normal one… I envied her once, didn't I? Thinking of how sweet everyone was to her, while no one was ever nice to me… No one was ever nice."_

"If you won't tell me… I won't make you. But try to be a bit happier, 'kay?"

It was then that the white cat digimon was finally able to smile… And even if Hikari did have to cry herself to sleep this time, she knew she wouldn't be alone. After all, even if those who had sworn to protect her from Dagomon were so far… Tailmon would be with her.

* * *

_Our adventure… It was fun, and even now, these past few days, pitiful imitation or not, they're also so fun…_

_I'd like to say, "Had only we realized the horrors we'd bring…" or something like that, it would make me feel better, at least… But we did, and we continued on, not caring what we'd do to either world._

_I hope it's not too late._


	4. Chapter 4

_Our crests, they were our strength, weren't they? Courage, friendship, love… Those things bring happiness, right?_

_I wish I could still think that way… Once, long ago, I was sad that none of us had ever come to love each other, that no two chosen had ever been that close…_

_If only I had known…_

_

* * *

_

"Rival, enemy, leader… Taichi-san... What was he to me?"

"Maybe I should say 'is,' maybe it's not too late…" he added, mumbling to himself, his brother's trait not entirely gone even in these dark times. "We were chosen, right? Adventuring together and all, I was friendship, he was courage… Maybe that's why it's so painful, maybe friendship's just weak, maybe it's always forgotten when people think of love…"

Yamato shook his head, his thoughts still jumbled and confused. Wasn't he the one that went with Sora, wasn't Taichi the one to be envious, pining for a friend in the arms of another? And wasn't Gabumon always stronger than Piyomon, wasn't he the one whose digimon always fought so well? And weren't the crests meaningless now?

"So why then? Why is Taichi so distant, why am I in so much pain? Friendship… Does it always turn into this, is it always doomed to be swept aside by love? Just as I was destined to become a chosen, was I destined to see my best friend care so much more for another, destined to see our friendship never become anything more?"

He paused after that, still always feeling the need to hold back his tears…

"Does Gabumon feel the same way, do I make him this sad when I think of Taichi? I don't even know… What friendship is anymore, and even though I was happy with Sora, once… Love… To those around someone, to their close friends, does it always bring pain?"

As the spiky-haired bishounen looked up at the ceiling, for all Gabumon had done, for all the battles he had fought in to save both worlds… It seemed that as long as love was around, as long as his friends kept finding it, or pining away for some random girl that would never feel the same way… It truly did seem that friendship led only to crushed souls, and love was the instrument that brought about such sorrow.

* * *

Evolution… The word means different things in different worlds, and it was an odd word to use for the transformations digimon go through.

Still… If this were to be a real adventure… It wasn't just their ones either, the others they had heard of… Face it, none of them had their first new evolution on the fourth day, as far as tales in the digital world go, a few random battles with the main villain didn't seem like much…

Where were the random encounters, the rampaging wild digimon manipulated by an evil master? When were their traits being made to shine, sending their digimon to the next level to save their partners?

It still felt false, even if those past few days had been with those same chosen, in that same place, and with more than enough sadness and angst for a saga of the digital world. A new evolution, even just a simple change of form to make it seem more real… That certainly would have gone a long way.

Of course, it wouldn't happen, there were so many things wrong with this so-called adventure, and even if it was a bit fun, it could still never match up, even if it brought about so much more sadness…

Still… It was an adventure, and they knew that someday, if it ever ended, they would look back on it with happiness… After all, it was the sort of thing that brings meaning, and those days, for all the sadness they brought… The battle in Andromon's city, the whole day of memory, the lead-up to Palmon's death… Those times, they were poisoned, sure, but what part of their adventures weren't?

And for that reason, they would continue on… And maybe, just maybe, this battle would be the one to make the goggle-boy's digimon reach a new stage.

* * *

They were walking together again, walking on the green savannah of the digital world, Goburimon bounding through the grass, making stomping noises as they moved, timid Alraumon afraid to run into them… And the chosen, their paths once more leading to them walking there, searching the digital world in hope of something, just as they did when it began…

A Kuwagamon, that's how it happened, the same as three times before… On their first arrival, as they screamed and ran in sheer terror, in the desert of server, after Greymon's disastrous first attempt to evolve, Taichi too afraid to fight it off…

And then, that third time, when they returned to the digital world… It was a quite creepy one then, caught between dimensions, its attack paralyzing all it touched… How did it end, then, did it fly out of the way of the chosen, wreak havoc until the dark masters were defeated?

There was a gap there, a small one sure, but… Ken had an adventure in the digital world too, once, one he had managed to forget, then recover, then spend eight months trying to forget… So even the slightest gap in memory was meaningful, even forgetting this one simple bit of their past was just that bad…

That said, the buzzing noise or the sharp claws of the stag beetle digimon, _that_ wouldn't easily be forgotten.

Whoosh! The wind whipped by them, the Kuwagamon flew overhead, and Yamato looked up, his hair standing enough from that dodge that he could have been the leader, still knowing how close he was to decapitation…

"It wouldn't be a bad way to go," Yamato spoke, smirking, that look that had been gone for so many years from the angst-filled bishounen's heart… Thinking more on it, it really wouldn't, the heroes that die fighting never deal with this boring world, trying to go back to a normality that meant nothing…

"But… Taichi… I don't need him beating himself up any more, especially without me to pull him out of it."

And then Yamato stood, more than willing to die, caring enough for that adventure, but still living for the sake of those who had shared those common memories… And a few seconds later, after moving his head sharply to the left to avoid decapitation, he held out his digivice and called for Garurumon.

"Gabumon, shinka! Garurumon!" For the first time in months, the false wolf digimon spun around again, then grew taller, more doglike, with mithril fur and jaws of steel, and poised to send the insect digimon to the village of beginnings.

* * *

In a place distant from there, a base, call it, though most bases didn't float in the air… The Digimon Tsarina was bored. Quite bored. Bored enough to watch that silly battle with a random Kuwagamon, and wondering if her fate would simply be to overlook the digital world and lose a few battles every now and then…

But be it Oikawa or any of the chosen, humans involved with the digital world aren't exactly good at accepting fate. And… Horrified as she would have been a couple months ago to treat Penmon in this way, the bird digimon was loyal to her, and that loyalty could prove…

Well, at least it would let her escape. The thoughts of the price Devimon's arm brought the thoughts of how it drove Ken mad or how Chimeramon couldn't be controlled… If it could be, that would prove she was no mere imitation. If it couldn't be, then she'd have to find another way… Finding another way, that wouldn't be easy, but she'd have to, she at least had to know…

And somewhere, somewhere deep in the part of Noriko that still felt her digimon meant she was a chosen child, not just some calculating Tamer, somewhere in her optimistic self that still believed love and kindness mattered… A horrible scream was let out, the sort of scream that comes only from the most brutal of pains.

Her Tsarina side, though, the conquering empress she had now become, young as she was… That side was snickering in that evil manner villains have, again feeling that joy only a sinister plot could bring… But dark as it was, even if the plan was fated to bring the digital world to its knees… That feeling, that feeling it brought her, that was still happiness.

* * *

The battle resumed, bluish wolf and a red beetle, the two digimon facing off like they belonged in a monster series. (Then again, that's what their adventures were, ultimately.) They stood against each other, well, the wolf stood growling, the Kuwagamon just buzzed in the air, and then…

"Scissor arms!" The beetle dove, sharp arms of death awaiting the blue-fire digimon. A quick jump, and soon the canine digimon was soaring through the purple skies, turning his head to face his insectoid foe.

"Fox fire!" Blue flames, so light and concentrated that they could be mistaken for ice, shot from Garurumon's toothy mouth at the insectoid digimon.

Kuwagamon was burned…badly burned. But, Kuwagamon have never been the species to easily lose out to chosen children…

"Power Guillotine!" The clawed arms, held together this time, in such a fashion that it looked like one head-chopping, X-shaped blade, once more lunged at the wolflike digimon.

But… Suffice it to say charging directly at anyone using a beam attack and aware of your presence and location can often be painful.

"Fox Fire!" And with that, the insect fell, lacking even the consciousness to continue fighting, and victory was theirs.

Victory… A digimon was wounded, probably just a hungry insect looking for something to eat… Yes, it was self-defense, but they wanted that battle anyway…

Battle… Wasn't there something wrong about finding enjoyment there? After all, battles always bring pain and all…

But they were chosen children, ultimately, destined to be bonded to their digimon… Admittedly, they were chosen, not tamers, they cared more about saving the world than raising digimon to fight…

Ultimately, though, this was part of them, and it was part of their world… It might have been before they had come, but digimon had always been known to fight… And it was in their blood, too, part of the nature of their adventure.

So they couldn't say it didn't make them happy… They couldn't say they didn't like it; they did, and it finally felt like their life had meaning, that their adventures of old had finally resumed...

The adventure, though… When humans and digimon mixed, be it in that world where the digital world was brutish and they were tamed by humans, or in the one where humans turned into digimon, or in this one… Digimon was always a bittersweet tale, the sort where the greatest victories always come so close to their worst defeats…

And as happy as Sora was, sometimes, as much as she kept them together… When one mixed humans involved with the digital world with love, the result was almost always heartbreak.

* * *

Taichi Yagami and Sora Takenouchi… A perfect couple, weren't they? The hero and the lead female, so close to each other, so caring, and there _was_ the Etemon incident…

Sora had been growing closer to Takeru and all, as of late… But he was younger, so much younger, and even if it did feel like a betrayal… She did have feelings for Taichi, she had them for long, and even if it was just that she felt it was right for her to date a fellow chosen… When he asked, she said yes as enthusiastically as if she was asked that by her true love.

So there they were, by that now-peaceful lake where they had once fought Seadramon, the water's soft ripple, the gentle green treetops surrounding the beaches, it was all very soothing…

"Taichi-kun…" Sora spoke, gently taking the goggle-head's hand, if only because she wanted to feel some part of him, to touch the other chosen she had once cared so much for... Taichi stammered and blushed, a hero, maybe, but nervous just the same… After all, wasn't he the one who didn't ask her out all those years, who simply backed away and looked forlorn when she came to be with his best friend?

Sure, it would have just screwed things up if he didn't and all, but… He still felt like a coward, thinking about it back then, and he wasn't even comfortable enough not to blush when he felt Sora's soft palm on his own…

"Sora-chan…" Taichi began his response, blushing, until his foot caught on something and he began to slip.

"_Even now it's the same, the last time we held hands like this, he was trying to keep me from falling… But…"_ Sora continued, smiling, her many sorrows forgotten. _"I like it a lot better this way."_

"Don't fall like that! You scared me…" Taichi smiled in response, regaining his footing and stepping away from the water's edge.

"I didn't want to make you worry…" he responded, his voice timid, trailing off, so different from his usual self… Was it Sora's influence? He didn't know, didn't have a clue, but still… He had liked her for so long, and just being out on a date with her… Leader or not, even if he was gazing on this part of the digital world for the last time until Noriko brought it ruin… He still couldn't help but smile.

* * *

"Where'd Sora go?" Miyako thought aloud, wondering.

"Taichi's gone too… He's the leader, he should be more responsible," Jou answered calmly, still so able to criticize….

"Taichi… and Sora?" Yamato spoke, talking as if he had just realized something surprising. Takeru's look was similarly forlorn, for that matter, though they might just have been imagining it…

But while Mimi was gone, it was always the bearer of purity's role to be the matchmaker, and indirect as it was, well… Takeru did seem into Sora lately, and the less competition she had, the better. (Of course, if she could get him with Daisuke, that would be perfect, but she'd take what she could get.)

"They're our friends! We have to check up on them, see how they're doing… Besides, Taichi-san and Sora-chan aren't right for each other!"

"They're not? They always seemed close to me…" Koushirou, this time, the computer geek confused by Miyako's words.

"Kou-kun, you just don't understand anything. Chosen children, onward!"

Though a few of them were shaking their heads… They couldn't say they weren't envious of Miyako's energy, and they were friends, right? Besides, though the chosen all had different secret romantic inclinations, whether Taichi and Sora ended up together did have some importance in their grand schemes…

* * *

They saw it easily enough, it wasn't a shock or anything... No one was going to take a brief glance at it and fade away in horror or anything, and much as it conflated their own desires…

"How many times has one of us suffered silently? Compared to what we've gone through, this is nothing, I'll be happy for them somehow…" Yamato's voice was saddened, it would have been tearful, if he'd ever let himself cry, but… He was determined, at least, he'd be fine for now.

The secret loves of the chosen children, how their hearts pined for one another, even on that adventure… Or something like that. Either way, Miyako would take whatever chances she could get.

"Awwwww… It's sweet, Hikari-chan… Shouldn't more of us be paired up by now?" Miyako spoke, hugging the younger girl, still trying, always trying…

"Yeah, it should be..." Hikari spoke, gazing at the saddened Takeru, wondering what sadness lay in her best friend's heart... "_Miyako-chan… Forgive me, please forgive me…"_

Perhaps knowing, her heart still close to the brown-haired girl even if their digimon could no longer jogress… Hikari hadn't spoken or anything, sure, but… Miyako let go sadly, and the other girl still walked over to Takeru just the same…

"Takeru…" She said softly, launching into something that was as much a collapse as it was a hug…

Takeru looked at her, smiling, and put his arms gently around her, some things never fade… "It was meant to be for so long… Hikari… I love you."

The bearer of light looked up cutely into Takeru's gentle blue eyes, and for all her duties, for all the resurgent darkness, her heart was finally at peace… Others were watching, sure, Miyako was probably crying by now… But this was the sort of love that was destiny, right? It felt like it was always meant to happen, from the tunnels beneath Mugen Dramon, how cute they were then, to the time with the dark ocean… And yet none had said anything more to each other than "I'll protect you," even though there were times when it seemed perfect to put, "I care too much about you!" into one of their mouths…

It seemed perfect, destined, Taichi with Sora, Takeru with Hikari, so soon after this new adventure started. They should be happy for them, feel complete or something, help their friends out and everything, right?

Right?

If only it were that easy… If Yamato wasn't feeling Taichi become so far from him, wondering if friendship could do anything against love, or even if his feelings were still mere friendship… If Miyako could just be comforted by Daisuke, if Sora could take her mind off Takeru, if Koushirou understood this stuff better or was more willing to see his team fall apart…

Then again, digimon and happiness rarely go together, if at all.

* * *

Time passed, like it tends to do, Noriko seeming oddly absent from the digital world, Deathmon not appearing since Palmon's death, and Miyako only got sadder and sadder… Should she go with Daisuke or something? He was a bit stupid, and he seemed distant from the digital world and all, and as immature as any goggle-boy… Still, he was kind, brave, courage had ended up with love before, right? _"Yeah, that's what started all this, even if they did seem a little happy together… I should be able to withdraw… But I've never been like that at all!"_

"Still… Is Daisuke as sad as I am now? He let go so easily, when Ken came around, and hopefully he'll be able to let go of him too, if it comes to that… I need to talk to someone right now... But I won't let even Hawkmon see me this pathetic."

So saddened as she was, she just closed her eyes and tried to sleep, hoping that somehow she'd be herself again tomorrow…

"_Hikari-chan… I miss you… I wish it was me, not Takeru… Being with you, even as seldom as it was… When we held hands and that light engulfed us, those days when we fought Black War Greymon together… Hikari… It was… fun…"_

And with that, Miyako slept, hoping at least she could happily dream of her jogress partner, if only to escape from reality…

* * *

Noriko cared little for the romantic struggles of the chosen children, and was utterly ignorant of them. If she knew something, she didn't act on it or anything, she had… Bigger plans. But for now, all she would do was watch.

Penmon cared equally little for such things, but as she was, the blue penguin digimon had far greater concerns, that one request her human partner had given her…

The whirlpool was a creepy one. It seemed silly for a penguin digimon to be concerned about cold temperatures, but there was something oddly cold in there that made even the arctic digimon shiver…

What was it her partner had wanted with Devimon's arm? Such a creepy object, such a horrible digimon, and what was with her gathering the limbs of digimon anyway? She gazed out at the water, spinning and so darkened, feeling as if it would rip her apart if she entered…

It didn't matter, though. She was the digimon of a chosen child, and she would not allow herself to fail Noriko. Maybe she wouldn't gain any gifts, maybe the girl would continue that coldness she had seemed to have shown as of late… But even still, it wouldn't matter, she would truly do anything for that girl who now fancied herself empress, if only to see her look a bit pleased…

So there the flightless bird swam, reaching into a whirlpool that seemed to possess evil's very self inside… Her small, flipper-like arm was limp, shivering, almost as if her body was telling her mind it was making a huge mistake… Penmon told her blue and white body to stand firm, to not be beaten by the waves, and with her legs thrashing about, somehow she broke through…

"Noriko!" Screaming her partner's name, her voice somehow reverberating across the water, her words clear even in the sky… The penguin digimon held her scanner amidst the raging waters, a red light running upon the arms of the digimon sealed within the pool, the data transferring to make the Tsarina's plan complete…

And as the information entered the young girl's aerial fortress, that final bit needed to make her plans complete… It didn't even matter what Penmon wanted from her in exchange, and she was thankful enough that she truly would do it, whatever it was, servants like that don't come easily…

Hadn't Ken been cruel to his partner? Then again, Ken also fell for that very reason, if this slight compromise brought her victory, all the better.

Turning to the video-screens of her base, she saw the image finish loading, in all its twisted glory… Angemon's and Airdramon's wings, Garurumon's and Monochromon's legs, Kabuterimon's head, Greymon's body, Metal Greymon's hair, and topped off with Skull Greymon's, Kuwagamon's, and Devimon's arms. And looking at the form of the composite digimon, clichéd as it was, Noriko couldn't help it.

"Mwahahahahahaha!"

And after that laugh, even the holy beasts were shaking…but that suited her just fine.

* * *

Another day, the first one in so long Hikari could spend without sadness in her eyes… A date in the digital world, it really would be perfect, as if their lives were going on the right path again, the path that two adventures had laid out for them… Besides, she'd be with Takeru, that alone was enough to make her happy.

Sleepily, she got out of her bed, glad her outfit changed when she entered the digital world, she didn't want to stall even the slightest bit… "Digital gate, open!"

Hikari Yagami was tired, and she hadn't seen much today, so the scenery didn't seem that odd… It wasn't a particularly familiar place or anything, just a soft digital meadow, the sort that might come into being, if you listened to Koushirou's theories, because of nice, cute websites with soft layouts, websites dedicated to some cute anime couple.

"Takeru! You're here!" To say that Hikari did not yell much would be an understatement, but she was excited. Excited enough that she was acting more like Miyako than herself, for that matter, she was supposed to be constantly on the verge of collapse and held gently in hope's strong arms. "Takeru…"

"Hikari…" Takeru spoke, his voice gentle as he opened his arms, while Patamon and Tailmon watched over from afar… Watching like angels, the two of them like angels, for that matter, angels with interlocking wings.

They were silent for a while after that, just happily staying in the arms of the other, a love of the innocent holders of those two world-saving traits that was always meant to be…

"I love you." Hikari's words were muffled as she put her face into Takeru's smooth skin. Takeru paused after hearing this, wondering how he'd be if it were Sora he were holding, or perhaps Angemon, how much more happiness it would make him feel, thinking of the memories he shared with each of them, how understanding the orange-haired girl had been these past few days, how many times his winged digimon protected him through it all…

Still, Hikari was his friend, his closest friend, perhaps, even if they had drifted apart a little. And neither Sora nor Angemon would ever feel the same way, after all, and he should at least try… Besides, with all that was going on, Hikari deserved some happiness, and it did warm him to see her smile that way…

"I love you, too," Takeru responded, unsure if he meant it, but determined to at least try, if only for her sake… And as Hikari nestled into his firm body, as Takeru noticed the sparkling happiness in her eyes, he couldn't help but feel engulfed in her light.

From far away, through a telescope so much like the one Taichi once used, a purple-haired girl peered out at the couple, noticing that look of elation on Hikari's face… And she couldn't help but feel crushed, happy as she should have been, she was only jealous and feeling her dream would never come true.

* * *

Mimi Tachikawa was not a chosen child. Not anymore, at least, not when her digimon was dead and she was desperately trying to forget that she had ever been a part of that world. No, she was just using her computer, chatting with some of her friends, without the computer pulling her in and sending her on some RPG-like quest to save the world.

This was why, when she got smacked in the head with an oversized tadpole flying out of the computer, she felt quite surprised.

As she moved her pink hair out of the way to take a look at the Otamamon, ready to yell at it for bugging her in this world… Looking at the tadpole, she saw that it was in very bad shape. Its purplish-blue skin was marred by crimson wounds and looking awfully swollen and red for an Otamamon, and she could tell by the gasps it let out that the frog was barely even managing to breathe.

"_It's wounded, barely even breathing, and it came to see me… Wait, don't digimon not get reincarnated if they die in this world? What the hell is it doing?"_

"We were attacked… Even Shogungekomon was powerless… We need your strength, Princess."

"My strength?" Mimi gazed at the amphibian digimon, a forlorn look clear in her beautiful face. _"It's come all this way to see me, I'm sure… Portals aren't easy to find, and it was so hurt, and still it went, hoping I could save them or something… But look at me, I can't even tell male and female Otamamon apart, and it's not like I have a digimon or anything else to act as a source of power…"_

"My digimon was able to reach perfection-level, true. But she was killed in battle, so I won't be able to help you or anything," the human girl spoke, trying to hold back tears and remain composed. Royals aren't supposed to cry, after all.

"I'm sorry…" she added quietly, almost as if it were a telepathic message and not a spoken one, hoping her apology could mean something, not like anything she did could mean anything to someone who had lost everything and chased so hard after a false hope. But she truly was sorry, so sorry.

"You're a chosen child, aren't you?" the Otamamon yelled, then turned withdrawn, ashamed at his outburst, especially to royalty… "You should be able to save us…"

Mimi could only shake her head sadly. "A chosen without a digimon is nothing. And besides, I'm not exactly a child anymore… I didn't go last time, it was only luck that let me keep Lilymon for so long..."

"You can't just stop being chosen, it's not that easy," the Otamamon replied calmly, but certainly, knowing he was right. "Be needed less, sure, and you have to enter it first at that age, but… The digital world is a part of us, all who've lived in it, and you of all people deserve to be chosen… Half the world is people's dreams, we can't just kick you out or anything.

"You're needed too, for that matter. We need chosen in dark times."

Mimi couldn't help but smile a bit at that, even with all that had happened, even with no Palmon to shout in agreement with her as she held up her digivice and prepared to save both worlds. "A chosen without a digimon is nothing… That's still the case."

The Otamamon shook his body, unable to simply shake his head like most would. "I see a chosen child and a digimon willing to protect her."

"_He's so young, I wish I could still think that way… But what did Tailmon suffer for, if it could just be any digimon? I mean, Palmon didn't go through anything bad or anything, but I've seen the others, it couldn't be anyone… And why were there even special digitamas? I should try, at least, try until I come back, hold up my digivice, and the Otamamon stays in its current form… But if I take another digimon, won't I just be saying goodbye? _

She looked at Otamamon silently, the small tadpole digimon obviously so desperate, hoping she could somehow save them… The girl hung her head in her hands, wishing she could do something, but too paralyzed to even move much.

It was then that the phone rang. Mimi muttered to Otamamon to be silent and moved to pick it up, still acting out of obligation, even with all that was going on…

"Did you hear what happened?" The voice on the other end was sad, worried, and unmistakably Sora's.

"I haven't been paying much attention, since… You know. What was it?" Mimi's response was curious, concerned, and eagerly awaiting Sora's every word.

"I didn't want to tell you about the digital world, with what happened and all, you did leave it… But I think you should know this." Her tone was foreboding, trying so desperately to be tactful, at least tact was something she had… _"Yeah, even if I'd sooner run away than confront anyone about my problems."_

"What is it?" Mimi shouted frantically, very concerned.

"The Otamamon were attacked."

"I know. One of the refugees escaped here."

"So you've heard about the slaughter… The Tsarina's showing no mercy, she doesn't care what that monster of hers does…"

"The Tsarina? How are you guys holding out?" Mimi asked, concerned.

"We… Haven't found her yet. Whatever she has, it attacks too quickly for us to even find it. And with the devastation it's caused… It reminded Takeru of Chimeramon." Her voice was scared, at least a little, though Sora didn't exactly scare easily.

"Chimeramon? And they'll attack the Gekomon village again?"

Sora could only shrug. "They'll attack the whole digital world, if they aren't stopped. But yeah, I wouldn't be surprised, Noriko's stubborn, and she didn't manage to erect a dark tower there, somehow… You really should come back, the Gekomon need their princess, and besides…" Sora spoke, her voice taking a conspiring tone. "Jou will be there."

At this, Mimi couldn't help but sweatdrop. "It's not like _that_!" she shouted, the noise rushing quickly over the phone line and causing the auburn-haired girl to pull the phone away from her ear. "If they need me…" she said, sadly muttering into the telephone, not at all wanting to return to the world Palmon died. But they would need her presence, if nothing else, and she had failed to save them…

So there was no other path she would allow herself to take. "Let's go, Otamamon… Digital gate, open!"

* * *

Betrayal, hope, panic, light, death courage, love… So much had gone on lately, this August of memories, the adventure resumed… Takeru's unnoticed treachery, Hikari's torn heart, Sora's wish…

And there they stood, the chosen, bruised as they were… All of them, save Ken and Iori, at least, with all their sorrows and unrequited loves.

Mimi had received quite a welcome from the Gekomon. They were prepared to fight and die for their princess; she turned out to be the only leader they had… Her suggestions of letting her abdicate and holding elections (Influenced by her now-American life, no doubt) had only reaffirmed their support for her, and at least for the rebuilding and keeping them from panic, she was indeed a valuable princess.

But for fighting… He was coming. The dark chill sent up Armadimon's lonely shell, the deep sadness of Takeru growing evermore, that anger of old returning, but directed only at himself… Hikari's confused look, still unrealizing, though one such as herself would certainly learn soon enough. It was clear that the mix-and-match digimon was coming, and Mimi wouldn't be able to do even the slightest thing to stop him…

Yamato stood there, gazing still at Taichi, wishing that somehow the other boy would feel love for him, or at least lust, lust and a bit of perversion would be enough, he could at least pretend that way. Gabumon looked the same way at Yamato, Miyako at Hikari, then turning towards Mimi, hoping that her Utena-based dream actually meant something, even if her feelings had subsided. Koushirou was looking only sad and forlorn, but not for some unrequited feeling deep in his miniscule, anti-logical, non-cynical part, only for the sorrows his friends felt, and courage and love began a gentle embrace…

Their words turned to their enemy soon enough, Takeru oddly silent in terms of planning… Hikari turned to him, wondering what was wrong in her love's voice, what it was that prevented him from speaking… The first time, and with Black War Greymon, Takeru should have at least given an inspiring speech and a never-give-up attitude, even if he had nothing to offer tactically.

But the bishounen's mouth was shut, his blonde hair falling gently into his light, gentle blue eyes, his face so smooth and warm, his mouth locked shut. Yeah, he was cute, really cute, but that didn't explain his silence to Hikari, and she couldn't help but worry, hoping it was simply nostalgia so close to that day, reliving so much of the adventure he had perhaps lived for, once, and nothing more…

When it was Sora looking at Takeru, even if only slightly, wondering what was going on with him… Those past few days had meant much, and even if they had once been distant, at least she knew.

Not like she could bring herself to tell Hikari, though. Besides, even if it were Takeru she'd rather have been with, though of that she couldn't be sure… (Though she did remember those times with him so fondly, and those past few days she had enjoyed so much...)

She would try to be happy.

* * *

When it came to bringing happiness… Unspeakable evils aren't generally high up on the list of things that can cause such a thing. Chimeramon wasn't _unspeakable_, per se, but he was evil, and very, very powerful.

Battling like this, facing a horrible evil again for the fate of both worlds… It was fun, on some level, it truly was, and these were indeed times she would treasure, she was a chosen… And Taichi would be with her, leading them, so even if it was odd to be happy then, even if it was disrespectful to her torn and broken friends and the many digimon that were dying, the digimon that would soon be killed if she failed, and maybe even if she succeeded… This was her adventure, wasn't it? And she was with another chosen, finally, just like she wished… So when he came, Sora couldn't help but smile.

Until the air began to melt and the yellow cone headed straight for her. "Heat viper!"

Sora tried to move, truly wanting to live, wanting to see this adventure through, no matter how boring life would become afterward… "Thank you… It was fun, digimon, please forgive me."

"Sora, move!" A tackle, a body throwing itself against her back, knocking her over to the ground and away from melting in that horrible strike…

"Takeru?" Her reaction was instinctive, but it was those same words, it did seem so much like that time when the Snimon attacked, at the beginning of that second adventure that brought so much false hope…

It wasn't Takeru, though, not this time… She turned and saw Mimi laying on the ground beside her, wondering how she could have mistaken her voice for that of the bearer of hope… "Mimi…"

"Meteor Wing!"

"Mega Flame!"

"Fox Fire!"

She glanced up, three different colors of flame exploding against the chimera's dinosaur body, then turned to watch his insectoid head fail to even flinch in pain. "It can't be won…"

"Don't say that!" She heard Takeru's voice carrying on the wind, then turned and saw him flying silently with Angemon, clearly not having spoken a word…

It was then that she saw Koushirou, typing furiously on his laptop, cursing as it began to slowly load… As their digimon fought on helplessly, as Takeru was too broken to hold much in the way of hope… "Perhaps there is a way. Can you take a look at this, Miyako-san?"

"Yeah, it should be right," she answered, her eyes peering across the screen. "But… Are you really willing to do this to Kabuterimon?"

Koushirou shrugged. "He's been through it before. And even if this works, it'll take a miracle to stop him…"

"But…" Miyako began, unsure what to say. Something about how he'd hurt his digimon? Or how one of the others should be the one to do it, or about how he never wished for this adventure and it wasn't right for Kabuterimon to suffer?

The bearer of curiosity gazed at her, a knowing look in his eyes. "I'm a chosen child. And since the others are in no condition to have their digimon be evolving, I'm the one who should fight."

"Koushirou…" Miyako muttered silently, as the boy hit the "enter" key on his Pineapple and his digimon began to molt…

"Kabuterimon, shinka! Ookuwamon!"

"Ookuwamon?" Miyako spoke, puzzled and trying to think… "_Kabuterimon usually become Atlur Kabuterimon, right?"_

"Kou-kun, what'd you do?"

"I hacked into his data to make it possible for him to reach perfect-level again… It's a Skull Greymon-style evolution, so it could backfire, but…" His voice was calm, the sort of calmness that baffled Miyako, as the grey Kuwagamon recolor stood to face that grotesque chimera, the two insects battling, the victor to bring so much pain afterwards…

Koushirou watched them, unflinching, prepared to save both worlds, even as he saw his friends so broken and destroyed… This was his destiny, this was his role as a chosen child.

* * *

Penmon's loyalty… How long had it been since she had swam through the dark whirlpool for Noriko's sake? It wasn't the sort of thing she could doubt…

"_This isn't a betrayal, this isn't a betrayal… Whatever he does, it's to save her, and I won't let him bring her pain…"_

The penguin digimon waddled through the streets of Tamachi, staring down at a map as she walked. The others, well, they weren't staring at a map… The worlds were closer now and everything, but digimon walking through any part of Tokyo weren't exactly an everyday occurrence, it wasn't Kyoto or anything. So they watched the Penmon walk, each wondering what the heck it was doing there, each ignoring it's presence and hoping it wouldn't attack… The same with the apartment she went to visit, the doorman said nothing, no one on the elevators said anything, it was like she was just another human, albeit one everyone hid from…

Her destination, though… A near-empty apartment, only one person there, sitting in a darkened room at the end of the hallway… And he didn't react the same way, from his attitude, it didn't even look like the dark seed had left.

"What's one of your kind doing here?" The former Kaiser asked, contemptuous, hoping to wrap himself in hatred just to escape his memories.

Penmon stuttered, unsure how to respond, how to phrase what she needed to say, fearing whatever words she spoke would just be given some angry, sarcastic rebuttal and then she'd be ignored, ignored and powerless… Well, she was already powerless, that's why she came here.

"It's Noriko…" The penguin said, his birdlike eyes turned towards the ground in sadness. "I know you don't want to help or anything, but…"

Ken shrugged. "If it's blossomed, the world's in danger… I owe them that much."

"Don't go, if you're just doing it for that reason! I want her to be helped, I don't want her to destroy both worlds… But not if you're going to be like that about it!" She wanted to say, wanting to convince him to have a better attitude, to realize he couldn't abandon the digital world…

But like her partner, the blue digimon could also be calculating, and Ken's emotions didn't affect her one way or the other, if it would work… Nothing she said would matter, she knew that, from Wormmon's experience if nothing else, but…

If Ken could do it, that was what mattered. And she couldn't afford to care about his reasons, if it would stop her partner from falling down that same path...

* * *

The battle continued, the two insects fighting ferociously, not caring in the slightest what was destroyed in their path… Attacks slammed into Gekomon houses and even the royal palace, each digimon continuing on their battle, not even noticing the destruction they wreaked upon the land of the frog digimon…

"Koushirou, lead them away from here!" Mimi snapped, a couple extra-loyal Gekomon putting their horn-like instruments in what could be called a persuasive position, in the sense that "Do this or I'll blow your head off" is a method of persuasion.

The computer geek stumbled, thinking, wondering why he failed to take into account the possibility that the Gekomon would be angry and prepared to use force. "Does this place have any explosive weapons?"

"Yeah, bombs in the royal palace… Why?"

"Throw them as far as you can from this place. They'll hear it and fly over to battle, it should lure them away from here," Koushirou answered, glancing at the palace, wondering if it would work...

Instinctively, Sora whispered something to her partner along the lines of, "Birdramon, get us some firepower," and the phoenix digimon began flying quickly in the direction of Shogungekomon's lair...

Miyako looked at Koushirou as he spoke, trying to have some admiration, or something, it would be easier that way… Koushirou's knowledge and command would shake her, or they'd grow closer as fellow computer geeks, something to take her mind off Hikari…

"Hikari…" The purple-haired girl sighed, hanging her head in her own hands, wishing, still wishing, in no condition to fight… Koushirou didn't like this, and it was far too common, what was _he_ doing acting as the general, wasn't that Taichi's job? Though even happy as Taichi was, he was more concerned with Sora than leading them…

And he was the only one in condition to fight… To fight and hope that somehow, Chimeramon was just another perfect, and that the battle could be won.

An impressive shot by a Gekomon, an explosion in the distance, and his corrupted, hacked digimon partner, along with the monstrosity of a chimera, flew beyond his scope of vision, continuing their epic clash.

* * *

"Scissor arms Omega!"

"Hybrid arms!"

The giant stag beetle swiped his thick, crushing arms at the multicolored digimon, which struck back with six arms of his own… Skull Greymon's, not quite as devastating to an ultimate, but certainly a great wound. Kuwagamon's, no big deal, just a much weaker version of his own attack, Ookuwamon wasn't worried.

Devimon's, though… Those were different, powerful, _deadly._ When they hit his silvery exoskeleton, they were piercing, blood oozing from the wound, a strange, horrible pain growing inside his body…

But though he battled not out of loyalty, but out of bloodlust, but though he only reached that phase because of a bit of hacking and being viewed as the lesser of two evils… He was still a warrior, and if he lost, he'd be sure to take his opponent down with him, or at least bring him great pain so whoever came next could finish him off.

And so… "Destructive impulse!" A beam of yellow light, a beam fired from the perfection-level digimon's two-pronged horn… It rushed towards Chimeramon, the composition digimon screaming as it did, and then flying away, too wounded to continue.

Thankfully for all involved, Devimon's touch was painful, and Ookuwamon wasn't any better… Koushirou's gamble had paid off, at the very least, and when he rushed to watch… He saw only an unconscious Tentomon with an odd, black-glowing cut piercing his shell-like wings.

_At least for now… We're safe, if nothing else…_

Koushirou turned to face his fellow chosen children, a somber look on his youthful face. "We won."

"You call this winning?" Koushirou turned to Mimi, prepared to give the innocent girl a cold-hearted response on the nature of war, but the voice was much heavier than Mimi's, so he cast a look Sora's way…

Sora? Takeru looked at her too, thinking something along the lines of, "That can't be right, she wouldn't say that."

"We only drove Chimeramon off, we didn't kill him or anything. The shogun's palace is destroyed, and I'm sure there were plenty of Otamamon and Gekomon that didn't make it out alive…" Sora looked as pained to speak those words as Koushirou was to hear them, but she couldn't just stay upbeat and happy when bringing this much suffering, happy as she was for these times…

"Yeah…" Koushirou answered, nodding sadly, looking at how crushed most of the other chosen seemed to be even without a battle. "Sora, there's something I need to talk to you about."

And with that, they left, the others absolutely clueless as to what was going on, even Taichi having no idea what Koushirou was getting at…

If he did, he'd be saddened, but it would have to be this way.

* * *

"Sora-san…" Koushirou began, a grave look on his face. "I have a request to make of you. And it's not a pleasant one, though it might be needed for the sake of us all…"

"Huh?" The bearer of love answered, though it could have been "What?" or "Eh?" It didn't matter what it was, though, she was still baffled.

"If someone asked me to give up my curiosity… Well, someone did, once, and I wasn't myself at all without it… But it was physically removed back then, it wasn't like I was asked to stop finding things out with my mind still working. So I'm not sure… If I can even ask this of you."

"You want me to stop loving, is that it?" Sora asked, at least knowing what was meant, though still with no clue as to his reason.

"Have you noticed how the others have been lately? I don't think they're all in love with you…" He began, muttering something like, "Though some of them might be" under his breath. "Miyako, Yamato, Mimi, even Takeru, and probably Jou as well… They're not themselves, it's like a huge weight was just dropped on them."

"So…" the girl began, wondering if every deed of hers would bring sadness, yet still so happy simply to be adventuring in the digital world… "You want me to dump Taichi-san?"

"Well, yeah. Or at least pretend to and hide it from the others. At least when none of us were together, all of us could hope…"

"It wasn't like Taichi was someone I dreamed of being with…" Sora began, wondering why she was being so open to Koushirou, though the fact that he alone among that first group had never shown any interest in her might have had something to do with it… "I just wanted to date a fellow chosen child, it wasn't right for us to have been so far apart… I would have been fine with Takeru, or Yamato, or even Mimi…"

At this point, had they known each other reasonably well, instead of having this conversation account for more talking than they did during that last adventure, Sora might have collapsed tearfully into Koushirou's arms.

She didn't, though, and instead simply resolved to dump Taichi and try to pair him up with Yama or something, maybe end up with Takeru, have Miyako go with Hikari… If only it were so easy, if only, in this tangled mess of love called the chosen children, there was some mystic combination that would have brought them all happiness…

There wouldn't be, though, it would always be bittersweet. That said, there had to be a better way then _this_, and she did pine for Takeru…

So there was still hope for love…Though it might take some courage in the process.

* * *

The day ended soon after, and as it did, the chosen dispersed, each going where their travels in the human world had taken them…

Sora continued her silence, not yet having the strength to tell Taichi, even when she looked at the pained faces of the others… This would be painful too, so painful to say, even if it would be best for all of them.

_Even if…_ Was there another way? She didn't see it, at least, and maybe… Takeru…

Still, Taichi would be sleeping soon, and… So should she do it now, now that it would just have been two days? Would it hurt less to tell him after it was just a short time, make it like she wanted to bring him a couple days of happiness? Or would it be better to at least give him another night when he could sleep happily, looking forward to a time that would soon be broken…?

She had to reach him, so she looked over to the phone, then stopped, it would be painful enough just to type it, she wasn't sure if she could even speak those words…

**Taichi-san. Whatever was between us, it has to end… I can't leave the others like this.**

**I'm sorry.**

**-Sora-chan-**

Her typing finished, she hit one of the red buttons on the D-terminal, hoping that somehow, someway… All of them could be happy.

Though she couldn't shake the feeling that if it had been Takeru or Mimi she was going with, even if the others were just as sad… She wouldn't have been able, or perhaps willing, to do even that, to do what little she could to salvage their happiness…

As she went to her bed, prepared to sleep, a beeping noise came from her D-terminal… She expected it to be sad, if not bitter, how many of them had she broken now? And Taichi wasn't the sort to just walk away with a false smile, he was gutsy, and he never hid his feelings well, he wasn't going to leave some nice, heartwarming message, of this she was sure.

But instead… As a tear fell from her face, as she opened the grayish device to see what message he had sent…

**Sora… **

**It was fun.

* * *

**

Author's Notes:

(Yeah, I finally have them, and I'm putting them at the end of the fic… A departure from what I've done before, but the greats do it this way. Or something like that.)

This fic, at least in its intent, was written as equal parts tribute to those who care for that series and continuation of adventure… I threw in plenty of references, of course, most to the series it's based on, but a few to the fandom as well...

I've gotta do something for Odaiba Memorial, right?

That's what this chapter's mostly about, a tribute to the couplings, the love dodecagon that lives in the minds of digimon fans…

Of course I advanced the plot a bit, and that battle earlier with the Kuwagamon was intended for different reasons, but had to go somewhere. So I put it in this tribute-y chapter to make it properly bittersweet for digimon and attempt to salute the games and the monster-raising aspect that everything grew out of. (Note the Digimon World reference in there. You don't see Goburimon and Alraumon in 01's depiction of File.)

(No, this isn't the end. I can't end it Takari. Don't worry, I have… Plans.)

Though pretty much all my chapters would make a decent enough ending. Just in case I suddenly die or something. XD

(_Though this is the sort of fic that might never be meant to truly end, it was inspired by the boredom that ending brings…)_

And here's to all the fans, their flamewars, their shrines and all, that made digimon romance as fun as it is.


	5. Chapter 5

_...We fought together once… I mean, we might have split up a bit and stuff, but we were all on the same side, we all wanted the same thing, right?_

_We were all such close friends…_

_We're still close, like we used to be, we still care about each other. But I can't even say we're still allies…_

_And because of this, I think the digital world is suffering._

_

* * *

_

Deathmon had little connection to Apocalymon. Sure, they came from behind the same firewall and were horrible evils that threatened the digital world, but the two had never even met in their eternal lives, were not formed from the same evil source, and shared little, if any, of the same attributes. (The exceptions being that they were both ultimate-level digimon and used darkness-based attacks. But that applied to almost all horrible evils in the digital world.)

Therefore, despite having "Death" in his name, Deathmon had no connection to the four horsemen of myth. If any group of digimon could be said to be the four horsemen, it would be the dark masters, what having been created by Apocalymon, the devastation they wreaked, and the tenuous connection between Mugen Dramon and war, Pinnochimon and famine, and Piemon and death.

That said… Looking at the impact he was having on the digital world, most couldn't help but draw a few parallels. Specifically, the whole "Killing a sizable chunk of the world's population" thing brought a lot of comparisons to mind.

The chosen were far away, concerned with Noriko and Chimeramon, too distant to be of any help… And the ghoulish creature was killing without mercy, bringing terror to the digimon of Directory Continent, digimon wondering if any from another world would come to save them, digimon already thinking it too late.

And if the Gekomon were fine, if Chimeramon's progress was being slowed, if the east of the digital world was looking hopeful, if the east was thinking the chosen could save both worlds… south, west, north, they all looked towards the future, and they all found themselves facing nothing but, well… Death.

Unimon flew through the skies of this dilapidated region of the digital world, searching, hoping, fighting… Maybe this would be the Resistance, maybe this could be the world's hope… It wasn't going to be Takeru…

"Takeru…" the horned digimon thought, thinking back to that kid, that once bright-eyed chosen child turned serious by war. "Takeru… I'm failing, a chosen child is needed here."

* * *

Hopeless as it made the digimon of most of the world feel, the digital world was a big place, and the chosen had not even heard such a thing. Hikari's mind was not focused in the slightest on Deathmon; even Palmon's death had not put that beast on her mind.

After all, the Tsarina was a much closer, much more immediate threat, and Hikari had… Other reasons to be concerned with her.

"_I was her mentor, after all…_" she thought, remembering those brief months, those days when it really seemed her dreams of light would come true. "_The dark seed children, their digimon, I've tried so hard to help them become like us. A few new chosen living together with their digimon, the beginning of a peaceful era… That's what I hoped for."_

And even forgetting her role, forgetting her own failures, forgetting the fact that this could be said to be her fault… Noriko was a threat. Digimon would suffer if she were allowed to continue.

Her heart still concerned with the one she loved, Hikari turned towards the bishounen's sleeping form, gazing at the one who so recently brought her happiness… "Takeru… I love you. And, I wish I could be with you when you wake up, I wish I could spend more time with you. But I have to do this. Alone."

And with that the brunette took a step, preparing to leave, preparing to face the one symbol of her failures…

"Are you really going to leave me like this?" The bearer of light turned, hearing a catlike, womanly voice, a voice clearly saddened, though distracted as she was, Hikari hadn't noticed the feline's pain.

"Not even Yamato left his digimon, even with all he went through… Are you just going to leave me behind while you do something this important!"

"Tailmon?" She turned to face her digimon partner, confused, unknowing. "What's gotten into you?"

The feline digimon looked at her, tears of memory in her eyes. "When I wasn't with you…" she began, thoughts of Vamdemon flashing through her head, and shook her head sadly; Hikari-chan knew her well enough that she didn't need to say more. "I'll devolve or something, I don't even care if I have to become Nyaramon and hide in your shoe! But please..."

Hikari nodded, Tailmon switched forms and sneaked into the girl's backpack (Backpacks being far more comfortable hiding places than shoes), and the two of them left, leaving to talk some sense into Noriko, leaving in the hope of bringing light to the digital world…

On the other hand, as much as Hikari wanted to do something, Noriko's base was floating.

As in "Floating in the sky."

As in "Not at all easy to reach."

As in "Impossible to sneak into."

On the matter of those few attacks that could reach her, Nefertimon's, for instance, she had managed to construct more than enough weaponry to repel them. So, getting up there to talk to her was, to use a great understatement, not easy.

And there was a good possibility she wouldn't even be the first chosen up there… She knew nothing of Penmon's exploits, nothing of Ken's impending return to the digital world. Then again, that return might just make it all much, much easier.

Or it could just fail miserably, or it could easily have no impact whatsoever.

So, after some wandering, there the Numemon queen found herself, staring up into the digital sky, wondering if somehow, someway, she could manage to reach her…

Up in said aerial fortress, with much "assistance" from Penmon, the former Kaiser and a tall green insect had made it into the Tsarina's base.

* * *

Ken Ichijouji began his wanderings through the Tsarina's base, the base that looked so much like the one he himself had designed. "It's similar… The location of the engine room, the impressive floors, the blue-and-black, telescreen-filled, near-empty lair, I'm sure it's all the same, if I wanted to take this place down…"

But that wasn't his intention. After all, there were guards there, and he had only one adult-level digimon on his side, an actual sabotage would be all but impossible.

No, his intentions were… Different. And much as he wanted to escape the digital world, he couldn't just stand by and watch another follow his path, another feel his horrible, amnesia-bringing pain. And if anyone could help, he would be the one.

"_Though it's not like that meant much… Last time…"_

Ken couldn't help but remember how he confronted her on those steps, how she began yelling at her… She had been so bitter then, but the forcefulness of the words was enough to keep them in his head, keep them replaying as he walked towards a lair looking quite like his own…

"_You're Ken Ichijouji, aren't you? What do you want? Don't you know that spying is rude?" _she had said once, emphasizing the word "you" with such a level of contempt that it was like a curse word in and of itself.

How did he respond back then? "_I'm sorry I followed you, just hear me out, there's something you need to know about before it's too late."_ Ken's words eight months ago were kindly, sweet, the sort that, looking back at his tone, made him think he might have actually deserved his crest. Yeah, like that was meant to happen, like he was supposed to just have a crest, adventure with the others, let his digimon evolve… Maybe then he wouldn't have abandoned this world, returning only to make sure others don't make the same mistakes.

Noriko's response, though… That was the cruel part, the part that made Ken so doubtful even now. _"Something I need to know? _It was her tone that was truly mocking back then, the words didn't do it justice.

"_Ah, please, why should I care what you have to say? Now that you're a normal kid again you're just an insect to me."_ Okay, **those** words did it justice. Still, he couldn't help but think, walking down a base that looked so much like his own… That was even the same metaphor he used, once, Noriko seemed so much like his old self.

"_You gave it all up, the brains, the power, and for what? So people would like you?"_ The girl was still bitter that time, too, but a bit of curiosity was slipping in, as much as a child of a dark seed could hold one of the eight traits, it did seem like she really didn't understand, like she wanted to know…

"_No, so I would like myself. Power gave me nothing but loneliness, you have to believe me, Noriko, this isn't the answer," _Ken had said once, gently, kindly, pleading with her to stop… It was then that she had spoken her most crushing, bitter words.

"_I suppose you're going to tell me that the answer's having friends and parents who love you, right? Gimme a break, that's just sad, I bet you don't even believe what you're saying. I'm sure not buying it."_

He had been unable then… Sure, it ended up fine, the digital world showed its power, the others who held dark seeds were more easily persuaded, and even she came around…

But now, whatever dream had worked on her, she had truly stopped believing in, now there was nothing he could do… Leaning up against a wall to speak, he turned to Stingmon, half-speaking to himself, half to a distant digimon, the one hearing him not having the slightest clue what he's going on about.

"I'm sorry, Penmon, but I can't. I tried once, I couldn't do a thing."

And with that memory and those words of despair, he turned back, departing Noriko's base uselessly, his return to the digital world a pointless failure.

* * *

Four years ago, the Otamamon and Gekomon found themselves under a sleeping shogun, willing to anoint anyone princess if that person could simply wake him up.

Now, the battle had ended, and it became clear that they were instead under a crushed shogun, a shogun that had been killed by Chimeramon's one attack that hit his palace.

And since there was no heir to Shogungekomon, since the Otamamon had always taken to monarchy, and as there was "royalty" of sorts in the area…

Mimi Tachikawa, despite a deep, profound desire to forget Palmon, open a portal, and turn her back on all digimon, had now found herself the not-particularly-willing ruler of a large group of musical, froglike creatures.

_Creatures with a far too difficult task at hand… Rebuilding a society like this would not be easy; the wounds Chimeramon caused would not quickly heal… The castles, the luxury, all they once were able to give her simply in the hope of waking of Shogungekomon, all gone… A third of them gone too, reconfigured, call it, or maybe downloaded to a different computer, if Tailmon's words of comfort were to be believed. But no, not really, they were dead… Dead, just like Palmon…_

"Princess!" Mimi was snapped out of her cursed reverie by the sound of a Gekomon's hornlike voice, sighing as she listened to the frog's administrative questions.

_Yeah, just look at me, sighing on the throne… So many of them would be energetically ruling, or just happy with the perks of being prince or princess…I would have been too, once..._

"Is something wrong, Princess?"

"No, it's fine. And… Tell the others that if he comes again, their princess will protect them."

The Gekomon nodded, and Mimi looked onward at the lands she had somehow come to rule, hoping that somehow, at least her proclamation will do something for her digimon.

Yes, her digimon, they were her digimon now… Or maybe she was theirs. Still, she would protect them, protect them the same way Palmon had once tried to protect her… The time for vanity was gone, the crest of purity might never glow again… But she would still do what she could.

But that didn't mean she wouldn't cry over Palmon while she did it.

* * *

"You saw an intruder here?"

To describe the fate of the Numemon now reporting to her as hapless wouldn't exactly do it justice, but as this language holds no stronger word, it would have to do. Truly, the green, slug-like digimon was at least hapless, having caught Noriko in a bad mood. And catching Noriko in a bad mood was a thing which had brought death to far more valuable digimon than some adult-level that fights like a degenerated child.

"In other words, you noticed the disastrous failure of our security force and did nothing? A small engagement would have lured more than enough digimon to the scene, but no, you had to let him escape, didn't you?"

The digimon's green mucus body quivered, shaking, stammering in an attempt to create a response that would save him, an answer that would not come.

"It figures a slime-bucket like you wouldn't do anything about it. Did he pay you not to fight him, and you turned and told me anyway? Or was he just an old friend you were trying to backstab?"

Still the Numemon stammered at the girl's lecture, stuttering to answer, but then whip came, and his body became data before he could say a word in his defense.

"Well, that was annoying…" Ken's apparent successor said, turning to the many telescreens of her lair. "Come to think of it," the black-haired girl spoke, confused by the image she now saw, "Isn't that a chosen child down there? That's strange; she's not attacking me or anything…"

"So shall we approach her?" Penmon spoke, grateful her partner was letting her stay by her side, yet still trying to get Hikari to do what Ken couldn't.

"Sure, might as well. Has to be better than this dank place, at least there the Numemon stay off the surface," the Tsarina responded, the dark seed twisting her to add racism to her personality, the same way it had added megalomania and all her disreputable, elitist traits. Then again, hadn't it been said that it's not racism if you hate all groups the same?

* * *

Hikari watched the flying base approach, watched the girl come flying down on an Airdramon, watched it with no fear in her brownish eyes… 

"So, you think you can convince me? Just because you used to be my mentor, you think you can come up with some words, make me turn back to goodness, save the digital world?" It wasn't a typical way to start a conversation, so contemptuous to someone just for being in the area, but-- It wasn't exactly uncharacteristic of Noriko either, not as she was now.

"You came back to me, didn't you?" Hikari answered calmly, the Tsarina flinching as she heard the long-time chosen child's words. "If nothing I say could matter, why'd you come and talk to me?" Now, _this_ was an uncharacteristic tone, wasn't Hikari always the timid girl, her will bending to that of others?

Still, there was a faint glow coming from her, an almost unnoticeable one, but she was the child of light. And when the digital world had to be saved, when innocent digimon were suffering… Well, it had happened before.

Once. Maybe twice, if the false Hangyomon counted. At least the others had personalities for crests, instead of just some weird power she herself barely understood…

The black-haired girl fumbled in response, trying to answer why, determined not to even concede the slightest point to the "idealistic fool" (This being the sort of thought most likely running through her head) opposite her.

"There's one trait the dark seed can't take away, that every villain can have…" she began wistfully, thinking of Koushirou, wondering how he even managed to exist with them, being surrounded by such idiots yet able to stomach being polite to them, even able to call them friends...

"Just because I'm evil doesn't mean I'm not curious."

The confused, torn chosen child, (If that's not redundant) nodded, at least a slight common ground had been reached. But this was not to be a conversation of pleasantries, of two people involved in the digital world happily reminiscing, or of Hikari giving advice on more things digimon-related…

No. It wouldn't be like that at all. Hikari was determined to save the digital world, to do what she could, to somehow find the words to turn Noriko to light… To light, was that her purpose? Was she to make the light of the digital world grow?

Yet so much had been spoken of the balance, and even her friends had been so bored. Could she even do this?

She had to, she knew she had to. Destiny, was that it? Was she willing to do all of this just for some vague idea of fate, that she had to do it anyway? It wasn't like destiny said anything about a life of boredom once said purpose was fulfilled.

No… But her heart, that too was that of a light-bearer, and she had seen far too clearly the suffering it caused. And if she was to be happy, truly happy... Well, Hikari wasn't about to let what she dreamed of simply fade away into a new era of digital warfare, she wasn't going to let Noriko stop allowing humans and digimon to live together in peace, to stop the happiness of so many.

But it might have just been that she didn't see it, she saw a new future, a challenging future, with many difficulties ahead regarding trans-dimensional integration, adjusting to digimon walking the streets of Earth, that kind of thing. And she didn't see how bored Takeru was, how much Sora was lost in her memories, how much even with that going on, this new, victorious era just seemed to so many like a distant shadow of the past and the path to a boring future…

And she did have one other problem. After all, she still didn't have any good words for Noriko; she still couldn't come up with anything that sounded persuasive enough, the sort of words that would save both worlds still eluded her. So instead, like so many other anime characters with severe mental issues, she ran away.

Well, she had at least run away with her voice, nothing would make her concede the utter humiliation and disastrous effects on the digital world involved with physically running away from the Tsarina.

"I'm a chosen child, aren't I? I'm here as a guard, you're the one who came to see me."

There are times when even the coldest of hearts are broken, when even the ultimate evil can feel disappointed, when alignment or morals don't stop someone's hopes from being dashed… And right then, at that very time, a dark seed wouldn't shield Noriko from this heartbreak.

But she wouldn't let her heart break openly either, so instead, the girl turned away, turning away with the same sorrow that had once caused Yamato's nearly-unnoticed departure.

* * *

The loves of the chosen children, those things that had caused many arguments, brought such sorrow, and created many a shipper in a distant world, these things were not something to be so important in one episode only to be disregarded in the next.

Well, maybe in the first two adventures… In fact, probably in the first two adventures, save a few exceptions like Wizarmon's feelings towards Tailmon, which could easily be interpreted away as being platonic or out of honor. But not this time around, it was one of the few things that the gods actually did think they could make better, to try to make the third adventure match up to the first two.

Though even the gods can sometimes lack wisdom.

More to the point, Miyako Inoue was, quite simply, losing it. The events that she had gone through might be called "character development" to someone less aware of the details, but turning Miyako, yes, **Miyako,** into a sobbing wreck over some girl that didn't even show her cruelty, well… That didn't really seem like character development to anyone.

Could she just end up with Koushirou? The computer geek did seem rather close to her, and maybe she was at the point where anyone's love would help, even if it wasn't coming from Hikari…

Maybe. Or maybe nothing Koushirou said could ever have the impact on her that Hikari's simple words did so easily, or maybe she was too stubborn to give up on her love, not strong enough to do the noble thing. She had dreamed of her jogress partner last night, after all, even if dreams were her only escape…

On a popular American website, a website that none of the chosen children had ever been to, there is a cliché in headlines that's something along the lines of, "Since you're reading it here, you know what happens."

Here, it's not so clear-cut. Even in the world of shoujo manga, a world quite different and far more betrayal-filled than either of those which the chosen called home, some people are known to step aside and allow the loves of others to flourish. All while crying tears of envy for the one their loves goes with, crying tears they work desperately to hide. And open romantic competition was a rarity in the digital world, everything had always been beneath the surface…

That said, she wasn't exactly going to work to break them up; she wasn't like that. But, if the right opportunity were to come along, if she were given the chance…

_If I could let go of Hikari, if I could forget about her easily, if I didn't care so much-- it wouldn't be so hard. But as I am now… Given the chance, what would I do?

* * *

_Meanwhile, Noriko was still mad at her senpai, still holding the anger anyone holds at those who create hopes and then fail miserably to fulfill them … The romantic struggles of those chosen to save both worlds were none of her concern, it didn't matter to her if Taichi ended up with Yamato or Sora, it really wasn't important. But given a weakness…

She still wouldn't turn down the chance, and she was still just as sadistic as the predecessor whose shadow she was still trying to escape from. So watching the chosen turn against one another, that would be just fine, in fact… It might even be fun.

And all she needed was a trustworthy-looking digimon with a well-concealed dark ring. Starmon? It had worked before, but that also meant they wouldn't be kept off guard. Igamon? They can conceal well enough, but who trusts an Igamon?

She had one, only one, and it wasn't exactly a common species. But that one would prove quite valuable. And besides, who had ever heard of an evil Gabumon?

* * *

As evil plotted, as what would be described as "an ominous cloud" hung over them, had that phrase not been so overused by a certain anime character, Hikari had returned to Takeru, the two of them prepared to begin their first day as officially boyfriend and girlfriend, the so-called destined couple finally coming together…

Takeru put his arms around the returning bearer of light, his gaze still distant and forlorn, for all his desire to just be happy with her.

"_Perfection, completeness, wasn't that what I should be feeling now? Hope and light, together at last, just as we were meant to be..." _

"_So why am I still so empty inside?"_

"Takeru-kun?" Hikari asked, seeming concerned, worried, almost about to fade away.

"_Just look at me, being loved by someone as sweet as Hikari-chan, even after I betrayed her like that… And we're gonna become enemies, even if I hope otherwise, I'll probably launch the first attack."_

"Onii-chan broke up with Sora-san," the inhumanly kind girl blurted out, wanting this knowledge to help, even if it did conflict with her dreams.

"That's…" Takeru paused, still wondering if he could even finish that phrase if he had a chance with Sora now. _"No, I won't… She's Hikari, dammit! After all she's done, after all I've promised, I'm not gonna make her cry!"_

"_But if she's really that important to you… Why aren't you happy?" _Had his conscience, if he could even call the source of such horrible thoughts a conscience, taken Patamon's voice now? Then again, that did make sense, considering all he had been through with Patamon…

"Hikari-chan…" the bearer of hope began, cupping the girl's face in his hands. "I…"

Takeru paused again, a vision of some future of perfection, of the two of them as angels dancing, watching over both worlds as they fluttered around in each others arms, such a vision flashed quickly through his head. But it wasn't a confession of love he was about to make, just an attempt, an attempt to tear the two of them apart so that it would hurt less when the time came…

"Takeru-kun…" the girl began, leaning against the golden-haired boy, even unable as she was to think of anything but repeating his name.

The bishounen blushed, even smiled, wondering if he needed to walk this path if he had her love. It might only have been an instant, but it really did seem that he could be happy with her, have one more adventure, atoning for the evils he had inflicted, and then go off into the sunset, spend the rest of some perfect life with Hikari…

Like love really worked that way, with that strength, with a force more equivalent to Angemon than to Garurumon. Like light was really any less boring than darkness. Like those past eight months really could have been happy ones if only Hikari had been with him.

"_But still, more than anything… I had been there so long, I really was like Sora, and I still am. And what I want – What I really want is to adventure in the digital world, to fight by Patamon's side."_

So at last he knew what he would do. "But…" He thought, blushing as the Light gently stroked his cheek, Hope unsure even what drove his thoughts.

"_Maybe I can give her a little more happiness."_

"I love you, Hikari-chan." And even if the smile those words brought Hikari wasn't meant to last, at least they weren't completely untruthful, and at least they could make her smile.

* * *

Miyako Inoue continued to wander through the digital world, so lost in thought that she didn't even remember how she had wound up back in this place, let alone where exactly she was.

How had she entered the digital world? Was she looking for Hikari, hoping that yesterday was a bad dream, thinking she could just declare her love to the bearer of light and she'd ignore Takeru to jump into her arms? Or… Was it just to see her again, entering the gate just so that she could be in the younger girl's ever-warming presence, so that she could maybe, distantly, see Hikari smile?

_Even though it would be Takeru causing the smile…How long can I go on like this? I'm looking whenever I hear her name mentioned, I'm almost ready to hug a light bulb, just 'cause it too is light, it too is **Hikari** – just not the Hikari I love._

"Miyako-sama?" The purple-haired girl turned, looking for the source of that deep, friendly, familiar voice she had just heard. The voice's source, judging by the fur, horn, sound, and general body shape, was Gabumon. (And it did sound like his voice.)

Then again, when had Gabumon used "-sama" to refer to any of the chosen children? That reverent tone still shocked her, but coming from Gabumon? Gabumon, who had fought at least fifty battles, risking his life to save the digital world?

No, it had to be a different Gabumon, of that, even in her broken-hearted state, even being the way she had only been when her carelessness had got Hawkmon hurt, she was sure.

"Yes, it is I, your great Miyako-sama! Now go get me some bishounen!" One might have expected her to respond. But that wasn't how she answered at all.

"Miyako…-sama? Thanks, I guess…" The inheritor of Love and Purity said, as the Gabumon looked utterly baffled, which to onlookers probably looked oddly amusing. "I'm just Miyako."

The reptile looked awed, humbled, even if he was only doing this out of an evil ring's spell, the feigned looks were the same as they'd have been otherwise. Shaking himself out of his flustered appearance, he spoke.

"Anyway, Miyako-sama…" the Gabumon began, as the one he was talking to began to wonder just how programmed digimon really were, "I have… Some information that may be of interest to you."

"Information?" The chosen child was now confused, to say the least, confused and wondering what the obviously reverent Gabumon, this Gabumon who took such a serious tone around her and probably thought of her as a deity, what could someone like _him_ want her to know?

"It's about Takeru." The friendly false dog's voice had sharply turned into a darkly serious tone, the sort you might expect from that other Gabumon's partner in a moment of angst, but certainly not from a Gabumon… And about Takeru, at that.

Sensing Miyako's reaction, the black-ringed digimon backpedaled a bit, needing a non-scary, non-evil explanation. "Sorry I sounded like that… I had to tell you, though, it's important you know this kind of thing, especially concerning one of your fellow chosen children."

Miyako Inoue listened intently, her emotions mixed even now, wondering if somehow, some way, Hikari could find this out, run from Takeru and leap into her arms, liked things ever worked that way.

Yeah, she should just have gone with Mimi-oneesama or something, as if she could ever feel that way for another again.

"Deathmon… And that first battle… He's not exactly a loyal chosen child," the Gabumon spoke, his voice one of dread.

"Not exactly – a loyal chosen child?" Miyako asked, half confirming the information, half processing what exactly this Gabumon meant, not quite being a quick thinker when her thoughts were still mostly about Hikari.

"So… Takeru's a traitor?" the purple-haired girl asked, shock in her voice, but the evil-ringed Gabumon was long gone, and Miyako could only wonder how to use this information, and whether to use it toward some feeble hope that Hikari would somehow love her.

* * *

And once again, as Taichi broke up with Sora, as the digital world seemed to be falling into darkness, as what looked like a new adventure was coming to pass… Yamato Ishida, still reacting from that last battle and the massive deaths across the digital world, was as he had been four years ago, drowning in a cloud of angst. 

After all, this new adventure, which even he had wanted, if only a little, it was already causing tremendous casualties in the digital world. "And it's not like we have a chance or anything either," the bishounen muttered silently, Gabumon still watching him with those compassionate, reddish eyes, still unable to think of anything to say.

"_It's still like before… The others, they're still growing, but I'm still the same as I was yesterday, or even four years ago, drowning in my own darkness."_

"Yamato? What's wrong? I can't help you if you don't say anything!" A thickly-accented, gruff voice shot towards Yamato's ears, but his partner's plea went unanswered.

"_Taichi, he's with Sora now, isn't he? It's only natural, friendship is weaker than love, so it wasn't like what little we had would last... _

"_And even if he weren't, I haven't even been able to figure out how **I** feel about him, let alone be able to ask him out or anything, and there's no way he'd say yes. So -- What do I do?"_

Yamato glanced at his flashing D-terminal, pressing the button to open it up, at least this time he'd try to be mature enough not to let something this silly get in the way of saving both worlds, though his friendship might not be strong enough even now.

"_Yeah, I failed even back then… I had Metal Garurumon with me, so I could have really helped, but instead I ordered him to attack the others. And then I wandered off, barely even showing up until the final battle, and only a bit of luck had me make it time. Yeah, in time to get turned into a puppet, in time to let my little brother save everyone."_

Leaving that train of thought, he opened the message from Koushirou, eyes scanning the words in shock, like an electrical shocker coming not from Koushirou but the far more fearsome, (though still loyal and valiant) Kabuterimon, shock that would only bring more angst…

"_Taichi… Broke up with Sora?" _ he was thinking, processing, so much so that he couldn't even react, for all it meant to him, for as close as they both were to him, until he got over the shock of such a statement.

Gabumon, having no response from Yamato, peered over at his D-terminal. There wasn't much light, and the blue-eyed boy's arm was blocking the way, and it was a short message, so he couldn't be sure.

It had to be wrong. It just had to be. Taichi breaking up with Sora after one or two days? **Taichi** breaking up with **Sora **that quickly, when it seemed even their history in the digital world was trying to set them up?

And though he said nothing, though he was unwilling to speak or even let Yamato know he had looked… Gabumon's fur-clad face said enough with its look, a look that is typically accompanied by the phrase "What the hell?"

"_But -- If he did…" _Yamato spoke, still taking a questioning tone, though it wasn't like Koushirou would be lying about such a thing. _"Why they broke up so quickly… I can't be certain, but I know them well, even when Sora was dating me she didn't seem that into it."_

The realization had dawned on Yamato at last.

"_And just look at me. I'm way too much of a coward to ask him out. It doesn't matter that this is the best chance I'll get, that he probably broke up with Sora **because **he cares about me, I still don't have the guts to ask him."_

The boy glanced down at his shirt, ignoring the attractive body it was clinging to, instead simply looking at the space where his tag had once hung. _"I'm friendship, not courage. It's not like I'm ever gonna be able, I'm too afraid of jeopardizing what I have, and even with everything else… I'm so damn jealous of him."_

"Yamato?" the pseudo-canine digimon asked, wondering whether to just give his partner a quick chomp on the leg.

"_Gabumon's calling for me, and I can't even answer him… I'm not courageous enough to say anything to Taichi, yet I'm still not able to bring myself to tell him to forget about me, I can't even bring myself to talk to my digimon."_

"I don't want to do this, Yamato, but if you won't say anything," Gabumon began, hoping that at this time, like last time, a bit of pain would make the thin-legged boy less angst-filled. "Crush nail!"

At least when it came to making him speak, making him listen to his digimon, that was all it took. Though it would take far longer to free him from his angst, and even now, in the back of his mind, the similarities to the past were simply too much to take. "Gabumon? You – attacked me?"

"If I didn't, you wouldn't even notice my pleas!" A gruff voice erupted from the child-level digimon, and no matter how many times it had happened, hearing **Gabumon** screaming always felt like a simply wrong, reality-bending occurrence. (Similar to hearing Fladramon talk, but less insanely ethereal.)

"Gabumon…" he began softly, wishing he could break down into tears, apologize, hug his digimon, and live happily after. But at least saying something might help.

And much as he wanted to improve, to at least do things differently, Gabumon had helped him in the past.

"It's… Taichi. I've been thinking about him so much lately…"

"Taichi?" Gabumon asked, though it wasn't like the one he was talking about had a name that would be confused with anyone's, or at least the names of anyone Yamato knew.

"Yeah…" Yamato answered, speaking in a cool, familiar tone.

"How so?" the horned digimon asked kindly, so knowing of Yamato, yet still from a species that rarely reproduces, and still so oblivious.

"I…" The blond paused. This was Gabumon he was talking to, after all, he couldn't exactly lie to him. But admitting that he loved the gogglehead? Not exactly an easy thing to do. "He's been constantly in my thoughts, y'know?" the bearer of friendship said, as his digimon processed the information, even he didn't always instantly know what to say.

"And I still can't figure out what he is to me…" the boy added under his breath, not even sure whether to tell Gabumon those words, his suspicions being what they were, even if he would admit that to no one. "He broke up with Sora recently, I'm not quite sure why, but…"

"You're worried he noticed how sad you were when they were going out, is that it?" To say Gabumon's answer was right on the mark would not be a hyperbole in the least. Then again, the bond between Yamato and Gabumon was strong enough that such a thing was to be expected, even if it was stronger on one side.

"Yeah… Exactly." It was at this point that, or at least at very similar points in the past, Gabumon would have given his partner some excellent advice, Yamato would follow and everything would be resolved with happiness. But when dealing with the romances of the chosen children…

So all Gabumon could say was to spend time with him, be happy in his presence, and enjoy the adventure once more. But even as the bearer of friendship nodded his head in agreement, even if his loyalty as a chosen child was never in doubt… He still couldn't help but still wish that, even if it only lasted a day, it would have been him in Taichi's arms.

* * *

For all the thoughts of digital love, the war continued, and these wars were not the sort to pause, not even when half the chosen children once again are engulfed in their own darkness. And for this reason, Sora, tormented as she was, still had to fight. Even though her foe was more of a monster-of-the-day than anything, really just a black-ringed Sabirdramon attacking a tired, love-confused Sora and an unprepared Piyomon on one of Noriko's half-forgotten plans.

"Mach shadow!" The black bird-dragon flew, a winged bullet of dark flame exploding into Piyomon's weak, feathered chest.

"Magical fire!" the chocobo-like digimon shouted back, sending a green flame harmlessly off the larger bird's talon. "Sora, I need your help!"

The auburn-haired girl sighed, casting a tired glance her digivice's way. Was she really this tired, not even remembering to make Piyomon evolve immediately, letting her fight on with some feeble bits of fire?

"Black saber!" The Sabirdramon flapped its dark wings, then dove at the pink bird, looking like a sword piercing right through the child-level digimon's heart.

"C'mon, pull yourself together, Sora," she muttered to herself, gazing at her wounded digimon. "The longer you wait, the more Piyomon will suffer. It's just grabbing a digivice and holding it up, it's not exactly hard..."

"Heaven's Knuckle!" An orange beam of light from afar, coming the same way Birdramon's flames once flew. From beyond the treetops, once Sora to save the others, now Takeru and Angemon fighting, just to save her. The light connected and the evil ring quickly burst, the Sabirdramon flying off freely before even getting a chance to meet its savior.

And when the light faded, when the girl rubbed her eyes and was able to see again... It seemed hope itself was emerging from the light.

"_Yeah, hope emerging from the light -- He really was meant to be with Hikari-chan, as much as I'd want otherwise..."_

"Takeru... You saved me – again," Sora spoke, a touch of thankfulness permeating her voice.

The bishounen nodded. "I heard reports of a Sabirdramon rampaging around the area, so I came here to check it out."

"Well...thanks," she said, blushing, hopeful for Hope, hoping that Hope would love Love. (Or something of that sort, thinking in terms of crests can get quite confusing.)

Takeru's small mouth opened again, his words having a far more serious tone. "To protect Hikari... I promised you that, didn't I?"

"When we were fighting Piemon," Sora answered, smiling. "Right before he turned me into a key-chain."

Takeru's eyes began to take a wistful, longing look, as once more he spoke... "Yeah... And to protect her happiness, with all that adventure had caused..."

To say, "At last, Sora understood" might have been an exaggeration. But she was more knowing now, and at least she was smiling. "Hikari-chan's happiness..." she spoke, moving closer to Takeru, wishing for Taichi's courage and persuasion ability... _Yeah, like I'm not selfish enough already... I wished for that earlier, didn't I?_

"Yeah -- I wanted, I hoped... This is doing enough to her already, even if I hadn't promised... She's light, after all, we're destroying her dreams."

Sora nodded. "Thanks again... You kept your promise."

"I hope she can be happy with one of the others, that Daisuke-kun or Miyako-chan will be right for her." Takeru added, sighing. _"Like there's a single combination of us twelve that won't make half of us cry."_

"It's my crest, it's one of the eight crests, I should be its champion, happy to see it bloom," Sora spoke, putting a hand to her flattish chest, remembering where the crest had once hung. "So why does it have to end up destroying everyone?"

"Sora-chan..." Takeru spoke, putting a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "Love... Can also bring so much happiness."

And once again, her angst cured, or at least healing... Hadn't Takeru been around every time she had regained happiness? (Though it wasn't like she had noticed before, or like Yamato and Piyomon hadn't been there too, every time.)

"Takeru-kun... I..." Sora stopped. It may have been painful, but it was only **eight months** since the last adventure, all she could say was that she didn't deserve it, any of it, no matter how precious to her those digital memories were. And Hikari deserved happiness, after all she had gone through, after all the kindness she had shown, she wasn't so selfish as to break that pairing up.

_But... Koushirou, just yesterday, his words._

"_At least when none of us were together, all of us could hope." And even though I can't turn back time... Being without hope – it's such a terrible, crushing thing._

"_So I have to try...Though it's not like I can tear Takeru and Hikari apart, not fall for either, and have none of them come to hate me."_

"And the one who holds the crest of love deserves to love, right?" Takeru spoke, his voice regaining its long-lost innocence.

"_Like the crests even matter anymore."_

"Sora-chan…. I won't let you be lonely, I care too much about you."

"Thanks... But I wished for this adventure, that should be enough... I belong on the outside of our love dodecagon, pining for another."

"And I belong with Hikari, everyone says it was destined."

"What?"

"Sora-chan... I want to be with you."

"Takeru-kun..." She shook her head a little, somehow forgetting her sorrows. "Me too."

* * *

The digital world is, to put it lightly, a big place. In fact, if Koushirou's theory from four years ago is to be believed, it is as vast as the human world. And for all people say of "It's a small world" when meeting people randomly, both worlds are actually pretty big.

So really, all the random encounters between chosen children… They can't be easily explained, even if they were all being drawn to each other subconsciously, active searching wouldn't result in this many meetings, dispersed as they were right now.

That said, call it love, if you like, but none of this distance stopped Hikari, head held down, still depressed from her failure with Noriko, from randomly bumping into Miyako in some random, digital forest.

"Miyako-chan?" Hikari asked, her tone a mix of "Is that you?" and "What brought you here?" though none of those words were spoken.

"_Yeah… Unspoken…We're chosen children, this stuff was always unspoken between us… Until now."_

"Hikari!" Miyako responded, her reaction a mix between excitement and a fangirl's yell, even with all the sorrow she felt underneath.

"_So she can still be that excited … I was really afraid I broke her there…"_

"How's it been going with Takeru?" Miyako said, trying desperately to at least conceal her sadness, painful as it was to even chat with her like that.

Hikari smiled. It hadn't been long or anything, but she had been so happy, and just thinking of it… "Have you found anyone? Koushirou-san seemed interested, though I understand if you'd rather wait."

"_So kind, so understanding, I love her so much. I know she'd be hurt, even if I don't know if what that Gabumon said was true, or why…"_

"Or wait?" Had Hikari implied what Miyako thought she did? Then again, this was _Hikari _she was talking about, it shouldn't surprise her, she was that kind… And they could jogress, so at least her heart had once beat like that.

"_But last time we tried…"_ The purple-haired girl thought, remembering how the jogress failed, how their hearts no longer beat as one, and couldn't help but wonder if this was because their feelings towards each other were so different.

But the bearer of light, isolated from Miyako though her thoughts were, she too had to wonder, she too was asking those questions of digital love with no answers that would not bring at least some sorrow...

"_Was it always supposed to be beneath the surface? Was who loved whom a fact never meant to be revealed?"_

That seemed to make sense, at the very least... Taichi had managed through Yamato and Sora's short-lived relationship, sure, but even that had caused sadness, and it wasn't like their love had lasted long, either.

"_It's not like we haven't been able to grow close this way, what I had with Takeru back then, or Miyako, or Tailmon, none of it was any less real just because we never kissed or said 'I love you.'_

"_But even still, I wanted... I wanted to have something more, more than all we shared. Something I could openly call love. And my crest is light, not purity, I'm still a teenage girl, I still have those desires, it's not like I'm as innocent as everyone thinks. If it were that easy, if two could fall in love without making the other ten cry... So..."_

"Or wait," Hikari confirmed, and words can not easily convey the look of happiness that crossed Hikari's face just then, even with all the doubts she had about Takeru's loyalty.

"Say, Hikari-chan... Can I have a little preview to make the wait easier?"

The bearer of light nodded, placing her arms lovingly around the older girl.

"_I may never be meant to say this out loud... The convoluted, many-pronged relationships of us twelve make that certain. But if I could... I love you, Hikari-chan."_

_

* * *

_Author's notes: Yay, another chapter!

Umm... umm...

Yeah, it seemed too much like a continuation of the past one... And I've probably driven off the non-shippy sort by now. (Come to think of it, maybe they could have gone as one extra-long chapter... Nah, it was better in two parts, though the two parts are way too short for me.

Sorry for the delay... And the short length, for that matter, but it took me THAT long just to get it this far... I hope with this I can finally resolve the romantic aspect, or at least finish a nice tribute to it while not making it overwhelm the rest of the fic.

Well, there's always hope. :P I'll throw in a huge battle in the next chapter or something. Deathmon's waiting...


	6. Chapter 6

_That which sparked this new adventure, he who we are to fight… Betrayal, evil, doom, it all has a center… _

_The air is heavier today, more humid, in both worlds… It's not like the snowstorm we caught last time, but it poured all night, that's not normal for this season... _

_He's wreaking destruction across the digital world, if he's not stopped -- So many will die... It seems like a final battle's approaching... And I'm not ready for this adventure, weak as it's been, to end quite yet. _

_This place, this time, this feeling..._

_I don't want to lose any of it. _

_I don't want to fade away._

_

* * *

_

Reliable, sincere, studious... All very valuable traits.

Had Jou Kido never gone to to the digital world, he'd be proud of this, gaining only happiness from his honor-roll grades, happiness. Not regret. And he certainly wouldn't look at them and only be reminded of how, only eight months ago, with such a great chance... Forget it.

And he'd probably be happy that he could be counted on, if that were still the case... But when it all came down to it, he couldn't. He might have come around once, found Yamato, found himself, maybe saved both worlds while he was doing it. "But last time... What did I do for them, give Iori a pep-talk, fight in one or two battles, head off to help save Australia?"

And even this time, it seemed like real life was beating him... Those past few days, it had been studying, more studying, enough to get him into Tokyo University, perhaps, but it wasn't like that meant anything.

"You have another way, don't you, Jou?" a high-pitched, questioning voice asked from his backpack.

"Gomamon..." he began, not thinking much of it; hiding was the norm for the digimon of chosen children, at least for the past few years. The little fact that the events last Christmas had permanently shattered the bonds of ignorance that kept the worlds unknowing of each other had at least today slipped his mind, as had the fact that Gomamon was in the digital world, that he had sent the oft-annoying seal back so that he could actually focus on his massive amounts of schoolwork.

"I'll try, but -- I'm not sure, these assignments could take a while." Jou answered sadly, regretfully, not at all sincere enough even in his desire to save the world for Gomamon to become Ikakkumon anyway.

"Jou, you know what you need?" Gomamon spoke, his voice more like a shouted question than a simple bit of asking.

The eldest of the chosen groaned, prepared for another silly one of his digimon's one-liners, or some freakishly optimistic statement showing a happy attitude towards the world he only wished he could have reason to have...

"An overnight trip to the digital world! We can invite the others, it'll be fun!"

There is a way, sometimes, that an optimistic, happy statement can drive the listener deeper into sadness. This was one of them.

_"Yeah... We couldn't even get anyone to stay for the first of August, let alone on a day like this..."_

"No way. They have too many responsibilities, there's no time," he answered firmly, a slight pang of regret forming in his heart as sorrowful memories flooded back, even if he had always played the responsible one in the digital world, never even letting himself have fun...

"Fine. It'll be just you and me then, we'll go alone."

Jou looked sadly at his digimon, groaning.

"C'mon, Jou! It'll be really good for you, you need the digital air to clear your head!"

_"But it'll only make things worse... All it can really bring is memories of what I've lost, all the things I threw away..._"

"If you don't, I'll bite you! I'm stronger than you, you know I can win in a fight."

Sighing, Jou walked over to the computer, the now seemingly ever-open digital gate showing up on his computer screen, reluctant as he was to enter. And then, holding up his digivice, he found himself downloaded, prepared to explore with the white marine mammal digimon, even if he wasn't exactly willing...

Besides, it wasn't like he could ever truly get away from him.

* * *

Earth is a planet that binds us all, it is said, a planet that connects billions. And we are all ultimately human, or something like that, even if your happy times and most precious memories were almost all in another world...

It isn't like it's a fun planet, though. And too often, people are hoisted with too much responsibility, while the uncaring world acts free to devour those who do not measure up to the task.

And at the time, the digital world was still a rumor, a strange paranormal occurance at best, and even with all that knew of their adventures, the chosen children were yet to be revered as heroes... Sure, they had August off, (Like the other students in their district) and that was a grand, grand thing, the sort of thing that could bring them thirty days of happiness. Thirty days, instead of, say, six months, and five of those thirty had already passed. And even in August, there are other things to think about, more responsibilities bound to be hoisted and distracting them even from something this amazing...

Was the reason the digital world was known to send for children simply because teenagers and adults never had time to save it? Old as they were, heroes as they were, would their desires prove meaningless in the face of the upcoming school year or whatever August activities they had joined? The thought was troubling, foreboding, that such a thing could end something so important, or that they could come back from saving both worlds and be punished for their trouble.

But even with all this, they have at least twenty-four days, and maybe there would be another way.

For now, breathing in the heavy invisibility calling itself air, they could only feel that a great battle was at hand... Those that knew them understood, at least; they would manage through the month.

Still... There are some ways an adventure is not supposed to end.

And meaning what it did, coming when it did, with all it represented... There was still a feeling somewhere, perhaps tucked away in Takeru's heart, and tucked even deeper in the hearts of the others, that maybe this adventure just plain _wasn't_ supposed to end.

* * *

"_Wasn't supposed to end..."_

"_I can't let it end... Much as I hate the powers of darkness, I can't let it end."_

"_So... Can I save this world?_

A new day was dawning for Takeru; it had dawned for the sun and the other chosen children much earlier, yes, but Takeru was tired, very tired. An adventure like this can take a lot out of someone.

"Takeru?" Patamon asked cutely, the innocent digimon still able to detect when something was weighing on his partner's heart.

"She'll find out in time... They all will."

The small mammal digimon (So described as describing him more specifically than "small mammal digimon" would inevitabely lead to massive disagreement) nodded sadly, knowing all too well of the weights and fears in the bearer of hope's heart... After all, hadn't he twice left his partner, letting some silly fights over cuteness or Pico Devimon get in the way?

"You'd do it again if you had to, wouldn't you, Takeru?" Patamon chirped, flying up onto the bishounen's golden-haired skullcap. Were he still able, were he willing to let his digimon fall, the blue-eyed boy would have put his head to his knees and cried. Instead, he merely let tears of agreement drop, an agreement which was still tearing at him -- It had been almost a week since those times of boredom, after all, the memory was fading, and he may have feared it was exaggerated as well, that the alternative wasn't quite as bad...

"But what if they hate me for it?"

But even just having Patamon concern himself for him, even spending time with Sora-chan, with all that was going on between them... Hikari-chan, such a close friend, the one he was sworn to protect. Yamato, his brother he was so distant from, except in the digital world. Taichi, his leader. Jou, Koushirou, Mimi, and the younger kids too, he had great times with all of them...

And even if he was physically growing, if he had been aging... It finally felt like he was released from stasis, like someone finally hit "play" on his life and let him return to all that mattered.

The memories of the digital world... Devimon, Etemon, Vamdemon, Black War Greymon... It meant something to all of them, of course it did.

And if he could recreate that time, push it forward, bring it back... It was worth it.

Even if other generations would judge him harshly, even if those who hadn't lived through it would never understand. It was worth it.

But right now, Deathmon had to be stopped.

It was then that he came to hear Patamon's words, words that seemed too demonic for one that would become an angel, too wise to come from one so small and simply cute. "They won't hate you, Takeru. Be angry, maybe, even find it hard to forgive... But they won't hate you. After all, they're chosen children too."

* * *

A black-winged unicorn, fighting desperately for his miniscule part of the digital world. A detatched group of chosen children, only one of twelve even in the right realm to stop him. And of course, a rampaging ghoul-like creature bringing death to almost all he even has the chance to view, to almost all caught within even his sweeping gaze.

The ultimate battle, good and evil going against each other for two worlds, it was nothing short of a certainty... Even Devimon didn't take much longer than this to confront the chosen children, and with the rest of their many foes, a battle (If only a preliminary one) had occurred much, much sooner. Unless Palmon's death **was** the preliminary battle. And Jou's unreliable, insincere self, dragged randomly by Gomamon, had found himself in a rather unfortunate place.

A beginning, an end, a desperate encounter. Unimon had a debt of freedom to the child (Or perhaps now teenager, the unicorn digimon wasn't clear on how humans aged) who had once arrived in this world, after all he had gone through after said arrival to destroy his black gear, to fight Devimon and the others, to save both worlds... And yet here he was, asking that kid to risk his life again, simply because, even with his great wings and outstanding eyesight, even with all that's said of unicorns, he couldn't protect even one simple mountain...

The equine digimon shook his head. _"To save innocent digimon... How many of us sacrificed our lives? If it's to save the world, I can afford to lose a little pride, can't I?"_

And besides, all those fights he had been in, they also meant he was strong, perhaps strong enough to stop him. And if Unimon was to save this part of the world...

"Jou!"

The teenager, hearing his name called, looked up from the rock-hard slope he was standing on, unsure of the source of that unfamiliar voice. He had met the unicorn digimon, of course, met him, fought him, even rode him, if that little rodeo born of the black gears counted as riding.

But... Unimon was certainly the silent type, save an attack name here and there; Jou didn't think he had _ever_ heard the horned digimon's voice. So looking into the endless blue sky, a sky not unlike those on earth and quite odd for the digital world...

"What?" the blue-haired one shouted, turning in search of that unknown sound. "Unimon?"

The unicorn digimon dipped his head majestically, swooping in on his black wings to land. And then, in a questioning, almost conspiring tone, he spoke. "Have you heard anything about a greyish digimon carrying a yellow eyeball?"

"Yes, I have. He attacked us a few days ago. He was clearly a digimon of immense power, but he left almost right after he came... And most of us made it out alive," Jou spoke, his voice dry and explainatory, trying to be the responsible-upperclassman sort of person, the sort of person who had enabled the crest of Sincerity (Or was it Faith or Reliability?) to glow. Even if inside, he was holding back tears.

At least he could calmly explain things, right?

Though a reddish visor concealed it, the Unimon's look after hearing this was one of absolute shock.

"_So he's seen him... And survived. Perhaps the rumors aren't true, it is quite possible that Deathmon does not indeed kill all he looks at and all witnesses he can find. But still, this simple fact of survival could indeed show that the chosen still have a role to play."_

"Do you have any ability to fight this creature?" the white horse spoke, his voice not bellowing out orbs of green, deadly light, but simple words, words the chosen child he was talking to still found odd coming from him. _"As if there's any hope... Baihumon, please... We **need** him."_

"Not at the moment. He's an ultimate-level; quite frankly, it's hopeless."

The Unimon dipped his head sadly. "Is there any other way?" he asked desperately, even if he knew all too well the limitations of the chosen children.

Jou couldn't help but wonder the same thing. _"Were we only called to learn something, to learn that we truly are obsolete? But we passed the torch gracefully before, even if it killed us inside, even if I haven't been sincere since..._

"_An unbeatable challenge. I can't help but feel that's what it is. There was a time I would have shrugged off this kind of thing as too dangerous, if only to mask my own fears, but..."_

Jou glared at Gomamon, hoping the white seal digimon would have the answers he lacked, but also as if almost mocking his idea of going back to the digital world being good for him.

"What? Like it didn't ever seem hopeless last time? You almost drowned to save Takeru; are you just going to turn away on his trait like that?"

"_Hasn't Takeru turned from his trait, too? It's easy to hope when your digimon are gaining new forms, a bit harder when you just go day after day in an endless, boring life. And even once you return, it's never that easy to regain hope, that might have been why we weren't chosen again..."_

"There will be a battle against Deathmon today. We'll beat him, Jou!"

"Who decided this?" the holder of sincerity asked, utterly shocked by his partner's statement.

"I did. If no one else will lead, then it's Gomamon's turn!"

Were Jou typing this conversation out on an instant messenger service, instead of speaking it, it would have been quite difficult. Modern keyboards aren't exactly designed for a Gomamon's long black claws, after all. If this obstacle were beaten, however, and Jou and Gomamon were talking in such a manner, the human would have almost certainly typed a lone ellipsis.

Instead, he merely shook his head, wishing for Gomamon's enthusiasm, even if having baseless hope was doomed to end up crushing someone he had so many memories with...

At least the Unimon didn't look quite as forlorn when flying off.

* * *

As the days passed, Iori Hida seemed as withdrawn from the digital world as ever. It wasn't that he felt running away was right or anything, but his adventure had _finished_, right? And besides, if only as a jogress, even if he could say Angemon's more forceful personality took control, even if Marine Devimon would have killed others had he not acted, it still felt like murder.

"_So I'm running away because I committed murder? I'm sure even father would have hated me for it... Father, I would have liked him to see the digital world..._"

He sighed, remembering his father's life in the police force, its connection to his own adventure, and how sad Oikawa had been after Hiroki was shot.

"_Was there anyone like that for Marine Devimon? Is there a digimon right now that loved him, some undersea beast still in mourning? Did he have a bunch of little Shakomon having to endure the death of their father?"_

After this, he would have very much liked to slap himself. Marine Devimon was a **demon, **a digimon who would have been two-hundred times the murderer he ever was given the chance, if not more. And with people or digimon like that, their deaths are sometimes needed to protect the lives of others, he had always heard that, Hiroki had lived by that principle, hadn't he?

Oikawa would have died uselessly if the world acted by that principle. (Though it wasn't like such a death would have been any less tragic.)

Upaamon had once told him something, something when he was at war with Black War Greymon and feeling saddened and hurt by Takeru's willingness to kill... Something about him having the biggest heart of all.

It was then that he saw his D-terminal beep, something that had not happened for him since that day of memory...

This time... That his heart was bigger, it was a comforting thought... And more digimon would be hurt if he didn't fight.

Besides, for so long, Iori had managed to battle without killing, why couldn't he keep up fighting that way?

And besides... He'd be among the chosen once more. So this time, Iori Hida resolved to return.

* * *

Four years ago, the crests and the powers contained within were supposed to be given up to purify the digital world. Taichi was to have lost his courage, Yamato his friendship, and each other their own particular trait...

Hikari Yagami was different. It hadn't been long since the light had sprung from within her, since, on that dark Innsmouth day, Angewomon had flown once again. It hadn't been long since a column of light engulfed both her and Miyako, giving rise to Sylphimon. And even if it had been long since she glowed florescent and freed the Numemon, none of the others had demonstrated a crest power anything like that.

It was this light in her that seemed to be ready to spring forth, and she felt it, too... The evil which must be stopped, the chance for a final battle, if one only occurring on a hunch, the desire to avenge Palmon and bring peace to the digital world.

She feared Dagomon still, she always would, even if her lovestruck self had sometimes said otherwise to Takeru or Miyako. But light was also the sister of courage. And to stop Deathmon...

"_It would be worth it... Was that how I was to finish that thought? But it seems so far, like I'd have to reach across an eternity of darkness, a darkness that keeps pulling me in... He's scary, creepy. I've snooped around my brother's stuff a bit, I know what those tentacles are normally used for... As if that was all."_

"_I'm surrounded by neverending darkness -- Again surrounded. Sure, it wasn't neverending that time, but that feeling, that fear, drowning in that greyish water, hearing Dagomon's eldritch call..."_

"_And even now, just thinking about bringing that light, I want to scream..."_

Hikari wanted to shrug, wanted to brush it off. She had faced an ultimate fearlessly, and Dagomon was just a perfect, right? But it was so terrifying, so incredibly terrifying.

But... Miyako. Daisuke. Takeru. Tailmon. Taichi. This time, she'd have five names to call out, five who cared deeply enough that she was sure they'd answer. And as long as she could avoid falling prey to that many-tentacled horror, as long as others cared enough to face Dagomon, if that'd be what it took to rescue her...

Maybe the eternal web of love among the chosen had its good points.

And with that, the bearer of light glowed once more and prepared to do battle with, no, prepared to defeat that ghoulish, horrid digimon. Opening the digital gate, landing on the slope of a mountain, wind pulling her hair behind her, she stepped slowly toward Deathmon.

If she hadn't given up her light before, while the rest were sent from the chosen children to purify the digital world... Maybe this was letting go of the final crest, maybe this would save the world at last, maybe humans and digimon could live together in peace and happiness.

Maybe... But even if it wasn't enough, she wasn't willing to lose.

* * *

"So Hikari left to attack Deathmon?" Daisuke inquired worriedly, perhaps a bit angrily. "And you didn't even try to stop her?"

Takeru shrugged. "What was I supposed to do? It wasn't until Jou e-mailed me that I even found out she had left, we can't just let ourselves rush foolishly into combat."

"Can't we? A chosen child needs us," the second goggle-boy shot back in his once often-held hotheaded way, unwilling to even mention the relationship between Takeru and Hikari... He didn't know what had happened last night, what they had decided, perhaps too new a chosen child to even understand the manyfold ties that would make romance sure to bring sorrow... (Let alone whether it was Hikari, Ken, or someone else completely whom he cared for most.)

The bearer of hope, the one who had fought as a chosen child the longest, the one who had often been _de facto_ leader during the second adventure, could only look down sadly.

"Let's go." Takeru glanced at Iori, remembering how he had spoke those same words over four years ago, expecting unexplained courage from the youngest member to drive them to something impressive, something heroic... But it was Miyako's voice he heard.

"We're chosen, aren't we? We've all shared something special with her, we've lost too many friends before -- this is _Hikari_, she let Vamdemon take her if she had to, she's always fought harder than any of us -- and would it be wrong if I said half the 2002 group fell in love with her?"

Takeru sighed, as the others, or at least those chosen who had assembled in the now-open computer lab of past days, moved to crowd the portal.

"Do I have your agreement?" the purple-haired girl said, smiling in a creepy, forceful manner.

"_To think that **Miyako**, of all people, has become leader. But even without the goggles, I feel like she really does have the ability to lead. And she's the only one who still has the energy, so why not?"_

After screams that, depending on one's feelings towards the fangirl variety of Japanese, were either screams of "Yes!" or_"Hai!" _The holder of love and purity held up her three-usage digivice, and once more said "Digital gate, open!"

But this time, for this perhaps final battle, she would lead in the digital world, too. (Unless Gomamon took her place.)

* * *

When speaking of Deathmon's actual appearances, after all the horror and suffering his revival had brought... To call them inept wouldn't exactly be an inaccurate decision. Yeah, he had easily slaughtered... Palmon. And he was wreaking destruction over some abstract portion of the digital world...

But up until now, what did he really mean?

Noriko watched the reaper digimon, thankful the screens in her floating base let her observe without actually going nearby... "He's proved a valuable pawn. But... When Takeru in his foolish disguise gave me the map, did he only want him to kill everything? That's just not like him, it's not like a chosen child at all."

Admittedly, the said chosen child had been disguised. But still -- intrigue, adventure, having more times like those in the magnificent, if bittersweet, past... That she could understand, even if she had only really lived through the end. But mindless destruction?

There had to be something more to it, there just had to be, it wasn't like them. And curious as to what it was, as good and evil prepared for another epic showdown, perhaps the final battle... Chimeramon could wait; the Tsarina would be watching.

Perhaps the other digimon, those with no ties to the chosen, maybe they, too, would have been watching -- were they not too fearful to even look upon him.

* * *

And then the gate opened, and upon yet another mountain, four of the chosen children fell. This was not a metaphorical kind of falling or anything, though, this was the sort that happened when the television that acted as the end of the digital gate was placed on a narrow ridge. (Had they themselves not used a desktop with one chair around on the reverse end, they might have had reason to complain...)

"We were always walking uphill..." Takeru remarked distantly, thinking of his past mountainous battles with virus-type nightmare soldiers. Daisuke, Miyako, and Iori all glanced at him, wondering what exactly he was talking about.

"_I'm the only one, aren't I? Hikari's jumped into some suicidal battle, Jou's who-knows-where with Gomamon again, the older kids haven't come yet, not even Taichi..." _He stopped at that thought, wondering why Taichi hadn't, as soon as he had heard, rushed to a computer to rescue his sister.

"_We took a while... Maybe he already has..."_ he thought sadly, all too easily picturing him jumping into the digital world, fighting Deathmon without even thinking of how much weaker his digimon was, and quickly getting slaughtered by the ghoulish, ultimate creature.

But soon, as the battle erupted before him, such thoughts ended.

"Death arrow!" A burst of dark energy, pure darkness shooting like an archer's weapon towards Hikari's glowing form. A sharp burst of light, illuminating the girl even more...

It was reminscient of Vamdemon's blocking techniques, a finger up, a surge of power – yet it didn't work nearly as well. Hikari wasn't killed, a fact that may someday prove legendary, but she was far from unscathed. And though she emerged still glowing with light, she had been knocked back sharply and was clutching her chest in pain.

"Weren't the crests given up?" Iori asked, never having had the chance to see them. "Did you ever glow with hope like that, Takeru-san?"

The bishounen nodded, then shook his head. "They were given up. But Hikari's never been like the rest of us in terms of power, and when she's glowing like that, she's more angel than human..."

In spite of the lack of crests, in spite of the powers of the digicore being sent to enable Imperialdramon to mode change, the light was strong, too strong... And it did emanate from Hikari.

It made no sense to her, at the time. It made no sense in the dark ocean either, but this wasn't Tailmon's first time now, so at least she was a bit more used to it... (Of course, the circumstances involving the dark ocean made it so not even such an evolution had been surprising at the time, and doing this again in the digital world did feel odd.)

And then, wings bursting from her back, she began to spin. "Tailmon, shinka! Angewomon!"

There aren't many ways to describe a cat turning into an angel, but suffice it to say it involved eight wings sprouting, a gradual change in body shape, and an odd outfit going on in standard magical girl manner.

And then, as the air fell silent, as Hikari stepped towards Deathmon, the angelic female digimon flew past her partner and at the smallish ghoul of death, positioning her arms to launch a pink cross towards the data-type. "Saint aim!"

"If Deathmon were a virus type..." Koushirou spoke, clicking furiously at his PIbook, "Angewomon would have a chance."

"Where did he come from?" Daisuke asked, a bit confused by the nerdish boy's sudden appearance.

"This is a data-type we're fighting... She can't win," he answered, ignoring the one who, once, long ago, had inherited courage... But it seemed he wasn't using much of it. Though courage right now, right there, might just have been suicide.

The pink cross collided the impish digimon, then fizzled out, and Deathmon was unaffected. Winding up his arm, he prepared to launch an attack, an attack that had wiped out a forest with ease... And just then, a torpedo shot over the mountainside and hit said arm.

It hadn't been easy to say how the white walrus digimon had reached his form. When Yamato was as unfriendly as Jou was currently torn and insincere, Gabumon could not evolve, not without a partner's strength... Yet somehow, with that sheer, almost happy attitude and iron determination, Gomamon had managed to do just that. And now he was ready to fight.

But no amount of readiness or determination can let an adult-level digimon beat an ultimate... Where a green torpedo had sped from so recently, a yellow eye shot back, and only a lucky combination of an Ikkakumon's large, bulky size and a strong will to live enabled them both to survive the battle.

Turning back to Angewomon, the creature saw a luminescent Hikari standing in front of the eight-winged digimon, her light a shield that seemed capable of defending her digimon partner, and the light was growing, growing above her as if it was an attack being powered up.

And for all the casualties he had brought, for all the power he had shown, after all the digimon who saw him and only died… This girl somehow stood face-to-face with Deathmon, and she _still_ wouldn't give in. "Death arrow!"

"Hikari-chan!" Daisuke jumped up, ready to emerge from his hiding and charge, wanting to do something, _anything_, to protect her, even if that just meant taking a deadly attack.

"Daisuke-kun…" Miyako began, looking wistfully at the goggle-head, the one who she had twice thought of as a romantic rival, wishing he'd just realize that Hikari was doing this to protect him, to protect us, wishing he'd have faith in the girl's strength… Then Miyako remembered that wistfully mourning a fellow chosen child, even tired as she had been, did not suit her at all.

And furthermore, she was their leader now and therefore responsible for making sure none of the chosen children stupidly got themselves killed. As such, it was her duty to grab Daisuke's leg and make sure he couldn't climb up the mountainside to block the attack, right?

And so, in that slapstick way one would expect coming back from the digital world, awkward positioning and all, Daisuke, Miyako, Koushirou, Iori, and Takeru collapsed into a heap on a mountainous trench passing for floor. (Interestingly, the positioning of Miyako's hands was such that it would eventually prove one of the major hints for a relationship between Inoue Miyako and Takaishi Takeru, or "Takeyako" as it is commonly known.)

"What was that for, Miyako?"

The purple-haired girl, once she managed to get a good view from the pile of entangled chosen children, did not respond, her eyes fixated on the glowing bearer of light she still loved…

"Hikari-chan went to protect us, didn't she?" Miyako's glance turned to Takeru, perhaps that girl's closest friend for four years, and the once-hopeful boy nodded in response.

"So are we just going to let her die?" Daisuke asked, his tone filled with aggravation. "After all she's done, with all she means to us are we just going to stand by with front-row seats to Hikari's death!"

"No," the typically hyperactive shot back sharply, returning to her oddly commanding form. "When the time is right… We are chosen; a battle like this will have a role for us."

Had Daisuke or Taichi still been leading, Miyako would have responded to her own comment with something like "But this waiting is super-boring!"

Instead, if only for a bit, if only until her intervention was needed… Miyako Inoue was actually calm. And this alone was enough to impress the others into following her lead.

* * *

Traditionally, when dealing with events involving chosen children and evil digimon, the wars start in the digital world, but in time develop a second front on Earth.

And this _did_ seem like the final battle... So it was only fitting for Noriko to send a few black-ringed digimon rampaging down the streets of Tokyo.

And as often happens after catching a Tyranomon's tail in your stomach and losing a few ribs, while watching Greymon and Garurumon fight on, Taichi and Yamato had found themselves deep in conversation.

"She's my sister, damn it! Can't the army take down a few dinosaurs and overgrown plants?" Taichi shouted, grabbing Yamato's collar despite the blonde's overwhelming lack of responsibility regarding Japan's military policy.

"The others are going, she'll be fine," he remarked back dispassionately, watching as Garurumon bit off a couple evil rings.

"Yeah, it's time we pass the torch."

"We can't run away, I've tried -- we're still needed," Yamato spoke, pointing to the massive carnage on the streets of Odaiba.

"Daisuke would do a much better job anyway…"

"Wait, now you're the angsty one?"

"You already had your cave of darkness, let me have a chance!"

The bearer of friendship smirked. "Just let me hold your hand, in case you fall in too far."

"I can't believe I fell for that," Taichi responded, smiling at the memories as Greymon let loose a fireball on the various armies. "You think they can jogress at this level?"

"They won't form Omegamon. But," Yamato began, grinning mischievously, "If two hearts beat as one… If it's needed to save both worlds, right?"

Taichi nodded. "Yeah, like you'll be repulsed enough."

"And you will be?"

Taichi Yagami had to admit, especially after what had happened the past two days, that his best friend did have a point… But as Greymon and Garurumon continued to spit fire, it didn't seem like they'd need a jogress, and a surprising phoenix's "Meteor Wing" made the battle end, as a girl in an old blue helmet descended to the ground.

"Have you heard how the others are doing?" a feminine voice spoke.

Taichi and Yamato glanced at each other, thinking of what Sora had meant to each of them, good friend, fellow chosen, and either love interest or romantic rival, sometimes both within the space of days. The holder of courage glanced at her silently, awkwardly, their first encounter after an e-mail break up…

So it came to the holder of friendship to answer her question. "Koushirou gated in recently, he hasn't said anything since. Communications could be jammed; I think it's safe to say the battle's still going," he said, running a hand absentmindedly yet attractively through his golden-brown hair.

"I see… So, let's get going, right?"

Taichi and Yamato nodded, and began their search for a computer, perhaps useless as leaders or diminished in power, but… It wasn't like last time, the younger kids weren't supposed to be the only ones with a role to play.

After all, this was their adventure, too.

* * *

"Death arrow!" A black, piercing, murderous arrow speeding toward Hikari's glowing form…

"Heaven's arrow!" An arrow of light, with so much sheer brilliance one would avert their eyes, aiming at the yellow-eyed ghoul, or perhaps just the other arrow that Deathmon had created.

"I won't let you kill any more innocent digimon!" Hikari's words, or at least the words of the confident, glowing light that seemed to have possessed her, were shouted as she formed balls of light in her soft, young hands and hurled them towards the aptly named digimon of death.

Black hitting white, attacks of good and evil colliding, the light and darkness swirling against one another… Exploding in opposition, chunks of the mountain falling into the near-endless sky below, and the chosen watched, hoping their Light would survive. And within the chaos of the explosion... "Now!"

Miyako's yell, a pointed, gloved finger, and with that the fury of the chosen children once more descended on the one who threatened the happiness of all digimon.

"_Even though this adventure is all our fault, maybe all mine… Even though while we fight, I'm still more afraid of winning than losing, because winning could make it end. Damn it, my crest should glow for the dreamed-of peace of both worlds, not the hope of a new and more powerful enemy!"_

"She's done enough for us… It's time we protect Hikari-chan!"

"Armadimon, shinka! Ankylomon!" It was just armor he had really gained, lots of armor, but still armor… But maybe he too could become armor, with that shell, armor that could protect others.

"Patamon, shinka! Angemon!" The brown rodent sprouted four extra wings and changed drastically in shape, then flew over, hoping to fight by Angewomon's side.

"Tentomon, shinka! Kabuterimon!" Koushirou clutched his digivice, as his digimon evolved, then glanced to his computer and shook his head. Not with this many allies around.

"V-mon, shinka! V-dramon!" Daisuke blinked, then blinked again. What the heck _was_ this dragon, and why hadn't his digimon become XV-mon like normal? Still, it looked _really_ cool, and if it could save Hikari, if Miyako hadn't held out too long and there was still Hikari to save, V-mon could afford to change its adult form.

"Hawkmon, shinka! Aquilamon!" And finally, the small, chivalrous bird became great horned eagle, and the new leader jumped on, flying into the explosion, prepared to protect Hikari, even to save her… Was there desire for some sort of "reward" there? No, they were comrades, all comrades, comrades and friends, none had ever given such a thing…

So maybe it was just one-sided love. Either way, flying into the swirling light and darkness, there was one thing she could pledge, one thing she could be certain of…

She was going to protect Hikari-chan.

And with that, into the darkness, into the light, and arriving in a crater with a dark, yet crackling and almost prismatic sky, they arrived, arrived to a wounded, yet still-alive, Hikari and an out-of-shape Deathmon that hadn't had even a decent warm-up battle in millennia. (Speaking of millennia, Ryo was… Elsewhere. Probably in a different dimension. Irrelevant to this story, nonetheless, at least for the near future…)

Angewomon, for all the strength she had used, was now an unconscious Nyaramon lying beside the girl's hand on the curved ground that had once been a mountaintop… Hikari was fighting desperately, shields of light, an attack here and there, but she was clearly losing.

"Run!" Hikari barked, yes, barked at Miyako and the others, showing an uncharacteristic intensity in her voice, but the purple-haired teen shook her head.

"No. He must be stopped, we need to save you…" she spoke, looking down at the still-glowing girl, her light now more a soft glow than brilliant radiance, but it was beautiful just the same… Then, turning towards her allies, looking down at the eagle on which she flew, but she was the leader, she couldn't flee, and V-dramon might be strong, so Daisuke couldn't… "Koushirou, get Hikari-chan out of here!"

"_I tried, he's too strong… Don't they get it? He can't be stopped…" _And with that thought, between fading light, promised safety, and inability to argue, Hikari levitated slightly, turned into her normal, brown-haired, pink-clad self, and then closed her eyes and slumped down on the crater's walls, while Kabuterimon buzzed by and grabbed her and Nyaramon, the raging battle and inspirational leader making him forget the possible necessity of Ookuwamon… Though of course, once Hikari was safely distant, he could always return to a weakened foe.

The remaining digimon flew in formation toward the one who had wounded Hikari so much, hoping that somehow, their attacks would be enough, or at least the fury of the battle could get their digimon into strong enough forms to win…

There would be no cry of "Rosetta stone!" as Tailmon was far, far too wounded to even be Tailmon, let alone armor evolve. And sadly, Ken still stood in the human world, still wishing to forget, so neither would any shout of "Spiking finish!"

Koushirou had fled to get Hikari to safety and Jou and Ikkakumon had already endured Deathmon's exploding eye, with survival, but not much else.

There had been a time when Mimi led a force of Otamamon and Gekomon to help out in an ultimate showdown between good and evil, but that time had long since passed, and Mimi was moderately safe in the east, (Owing to Noriko's inability to conquer her and unwillingness to let Deathmon so far into her empire) and had seen far too many die already… She would help the Gekomon and Otamamon, the princess now a queen, but she would not lead her subjects into a useless, deadly war.

Noriko herself was tempted to intervene, but not while so many of her enemies still stood, and she still wasn't sure about how to launch the _coup de grace _without afterwards being again plunged into boredom… At least the chosen, if they somehow won, would still have her to fight, so she continued to wait. The thought of sparing the chosen and taking out Deathmon did not occur to her, and she did not yet have the strength.

Taichi, Sora, and Yamato were on their way, but until they arrived… Only four were left standing, only four mere adult-level digimon could still attack… But with Miyako at the helm…

They would still attack.

* * *

"V-breath arrow!"

"Megaton press!"

"Heaven's knuckle!"

"Blast laser!"

Yet another arrow, this one blue and with a v-shaped point, and yet another beam of light, wider and with a tint of orange… The two-ton weight of Ankylomon, coming from the sky, and a sequence of overlapping red rings of paralysis… The four attacks rushed towards their wounded enemy, and somehow, it did feel like these attacks would be enough to finally save both worlds…

They probably wouldn't have done any damage even if they had hit. Deathmon wasn't particularly fast, but to his credit, he was small and winged. And "not particularly fast" for an ultimate was still enough to easily dodge the attacks of four mere adult-levels, so the demon lord digimon flew effortlessly through the charging blasts and easily away from the falling ankylosaur.

"It's not working!" Daisuke shouted, as the holder of purity (among other things) raced through her brain in hopes of finding a quick, alternate plan of attack, as if there was any…

"Exploding eye!"

They were all doomed, death was certain… This was the end, but not the sort of end they had hoped for, evil wasn't supposed to triumph over good and cleanse the digital world of life, even if Hikari could survive in exile and quite a few of the first team were still not there yet… Defeat here, losing four (Probably five, if Deathmon cleaned up the battlefield) chosen children after light itself had been exhausted in combat, it would be a deadly blow…

Perhaps it was fortunate that just then, three more flew with their digimon through the swirling, crackling, multi-colored barrier of light and darkness. Or perhaps it would only make evil's victory complete.

* * *

Four years ago, when good fought evil for the sake of both worlds, Gennai was inspecting a firewall with Kentarumon. Eight months ago, as the final battle approached, Gennai had cloned himself and worked with the chosen children to stop a hideous rampage of wild digimon causing destruction across the human world.

But now… Maybe it was the divine influence when the battle had started, maybe, as he worked for the harmonious ones, he would be enemy, not ally… Still, it didn't seem right for him to be completely behind the scenes. Still, what was he to do, teleport in and make conversation? If he couldn't go in Vamdemon's castle, surely this place of swirling darkness would keep him out. Even if he could make it in, what was he to do, shoot holograms at people? Randomly appear at the end and ask for help on his distant continent? They were already fighting _Deathmon_; worse, Qinglongmon had expressly forbidden him from giving any digi-cores.

Had he withdrawn the power from Agumon as well? It didn't take much to withdraw the brains from Taichi, but the fact that using War Greymon hadn't even occurred to him made it so Gennai was unlikely to ever know… They would lose, the digimon would be doomed, their leader was never competent enough.

Still, he would watch.

* * *

"Guys, as soon as you hit the ground, make sure you evolve."

Taichi was still adjusting his eyes, still feeling like a failure, but there was just something about flying on Birdramon into combat through a sphere of light and darkness that had a way of making him forget all his angst… He was courage, not friendship, right? The goggle boy, not the angsty bishounen? Either way, he felt a strong urge to lead, and they would follow.

When his eyes adjusted, he'd notice worriedly that Koushirou and Hikari were gone. But Deathmon wouldn't wait, and it was _hard_ to see when the background was ever shifting, the sky was crackling with sparks of green, and the digimon were fighting so hard… Sora had probably been using the eyes of love.

"_Eyes aimed at me, at Yamato, at Mimi?"_

A winged shadow moving across the ground, a red streak in the sky… Birdramon, right? Taichi rubbed his eyes. Okay, it was Birdramon. And something was flying at her, something small, yellow. An attack?

No, not at her. It shifted slightly, so slightly, but it wouldn't have shifted to avoid its target… There was someone behind her; he was sure, probably someone she cared deeply for… The tomboy bent her legs, hands clutching the phoenix's own fiery, feathered leg, almost as if…

Well, she was love.

Looking closer at Sora's legs… No, not like that. He was trying to figure out what his ally was going to do next; he was "not at all" admiring the legs of the athletic, reasonably attractive (if flat) child of love. Wait, what was that she was holding, and why were blue straps swinging down from her hand? Well, her legs were reasonably far apart, and she was stepping forward, as much as she could without falling off... And better her helmet be lost than her life, right?

Taichi Yagami didn't see much of the helmet as it was thrown, and his reaction wasn't the sort of awe that she would sacrifice something as important as her ski helmet… It might have been up there with his own goggles and Yamato's harmonica, once, but Yamato had traded the harmonica in for the guitar and Taichi's old, oddly-worn goggles now belonged to Daisuke.

Besides, he was relieved enough that his good friend wasn't going to throw her life away.

The helmet flew through the air quickly, but it was still a helmet, and gravity's impact would take affect. The attack's targets (Or "Most of the 02 chosen," as they are commonly known) watched the blue hollowed-out orb in reverent importance, flying through the air, dipping under the eyeball that might mean death for them, death for the digital creatures that had spent so long fighting by their side…

And then… It only grazed it, really, a slight impact, probably wouldn't have altered the bomb's path whatsoever. Had Deathmon calculated better, if his eyes weren't so prone to exploding, it wouldn't have made any difference.

Instead, a devastating blast was unleashed harmlessly in midair, somehow not destroying anything but Sora's once-defining helmet. But even that helmet's sacrifice, when they really thought of it, was just buying a little time, stalling for allies who weren't going to come.

* * *

It is said that hope can illuminate any darkness, that it is what enables good to triumph over evil… And in the battles with Devimon and Piemon, well, it sure seemed that way. And even if all others weren't yet defeated, it was still clear that they didn't have a chance… It was times like this when the crest of hope is meant to glow and Patamon is meant to get a new form that would save them all.

Seraphimon? That would be fitting… A miracle in darkest times, a heavily armored angel flapping his golden wings, maybe channelling his strength into a ball of blue light, a massive explosion, victory and celebration. If good were meant to triumph over evil in this final battle… Well, something like that would be how it won, right?

Angemon was still standing, still firing off another "Heaven's Knuckle!", his golden-orange hair flying behind him, his wings spread, prepared to dodge, his muscles straining from the continued pressure of such attacks. Takeru was watching him, hatred of the darkness with him as ever, feeling the sort of anger he felt from Black War Greymon… If only for a small bit of a battle, he didn't _care_ if it ended, as long as his digimon wouldn't sacrifice himself again…

Of course, Takeru himself was probably the only reason Angemon wasn't a bundle of feathers right now, attacking with one big blast of light.

But it wasn't long before death would challenge even hope, as the others watched helplessly, the same way as before… Was Deathmon going to just end the same way as Devimon? Was the adventure that once had shown such promise not only inferior, but repetitive?

None would ask this question, if only because what had led up to it was so, so, different, if only because Takeru was too worried about Angemon's survival to be concerned with something else, even something that had made him what he was, something that had almost awoken him at last and made him truly live again.

"I can't let this happen! Angemon, don't get yourself get killed!"

The angel digimon turned towards Takeru, preparing to nod, give a solemn promise to live, even if this precluded him from winning… A cry of "Death arrow!" a black projectile into his beautiful, feathered white wing, and the angel slumped down, glowed white, and devolved to an unconscious Tokomon.

* * *

There had been a time, a time just one week previous, when, even if a few Otamamon resorted to their old habits and referred to her as otherwise, Mimi Tachikawa did not at all picture herself a digital ruler. Princess fantasies were one thing, but the princess fantasies were all about having a kingdom's treasury to spend on luxuries and meeting prince charming, not watching the queen die, ascending the throne, and trying to hold a nation together while protecting it from intruders.

In short, she was not at all a prepared ruler. But luckily, there had been a civics course at the end of last year, and there had been a moderately recent unit on the diplomatic blundering leading up to the First World War, so she did have some idea on how such a thing worked.

Some, not much. And this was in the digital world, at that, protocols would be completely different, not even showing the passing similarity modern foreign relations did to those of early twentieth-century Europe...

It had been an easier job than she had expected. She had little knowledge, but it was easy to see what was broken, and the loyalty of the frog digimon to their queen had prevented any riots during the rebuilding process, even if all she actually did was devote resources to the effort (Just barely, effectively "Unless what you're doing is to feed us, rebuild!" and shout words of encouragement, probably bungling the restoration in the end.)

So internal affairs had been easy, or at least they would be as long as the Gekomon and Otamamon viewed themselves as subjects only and viewed her not as an incompetent ruler but as a hero…

Foreign relations, though, there she heard the rumblings of severe dissent. The Tsarina had been conquering left and right, the Gekomon and Otamamon were crying out for revenge, digimon from neighboring areas; those that had found freedom at least, were storming in, and she was probably the only one around who didn't have bloodlust in her eyes.

At the same time… Their village could ill-afford to make war on the Tsarina; all that could happen would be that more digimon would die, and it wasn't like they had a chance of victory. So unpopular as it was, even though she had to actually look through the royal library because she feared asking an advisor would lead to an advisor deceiving her and undermining her pacifist intentions, she eventually learned and sent out the digital symbol of peace. Negotiations with the Tsarina were not forthcoming, it wasn't like she could just send envoys to a floating base in the middle of nowhere, so she hoped this alone would be enough to proclaim neutrality and a wish not to fight… And hope that the Tsarina would accept the said wish.

Which led into the second part of her royal plan: Fortifications… Walls would be needed. Enough material of a sort that Chimeramon couldn't actually penetrate through said walls with a single attack. Cannons would need to be upgraded massively, and digimon would have to be trained how to fire said cannons.

Well, they weren't hard cannons to operate… It was more "how to fire said cannons and score a hit" that she was looking for. And she herself had no idea how to aim or move a cannon, or what sort of fort to build, or what to build it with… So she was looking. Looking, building a few weak walls and bunkers, making sure the castle would become a bit closer to "sanctuary-fortress that protects us all even against the strongest foes" than to "something that caves in and crushes us to death when we're attacked."

It wasn't easy. She had spent so much on defense that the reconstruction was going even more solely, digimon (mostly exiles) were calling for "convincing" their princess to "retire" and treating her with luxury while going to battle to liberate neighboring areas…

The bearer of purity sighed. Not that she'd back away if there were nowhere to flee, but she'd really rather not fight… And some of them knew that, the more royalist ones knew all to well that their princess's heart could not afford to lose anymore digimon, especially after Palmon…

But some of them didn't. And so she began work on a nice, stirring, regal proclamation, and hoped that she could avoid war… Even while the other seven she had adventured with were involved in a tremendous, perhaps final battle.

If they lost, and if she was lucky and a sufficiently good diplomat, this kingdom, ruled once by a shogun and now by a chosen child turned princess, this pacifistic kingdom of Otamamon and Gekomon would be the lone light in the digital world.

* * *

Even with Angemon gone, Takeru's partner now a white blob of cuteness cradled in hope's gentle arms… Even with hope beaten and light fading, there were those who would continue to fight…

If this could really still be called a "fight." Their foe was battling lazily now, but lazily might just have meant effortlessly, flying up to claw the Birdramon, which fell as a puny, black plant called "Nyokimon." Still, he continued, wrapping up whomever would still fight, yet strangely enough, for a battle that would be final, not killing… Then again, maybe he was the sort of villain who just wanted to wrap everything save Palmon up in one nice, big explosion, and then take over the rest of the world.

Neither idea was pleasant… The whole "This is an immense setback, our digimon will come to protect us" thing might have been more pleasant, but it flew right in the face of logic and was therefore shot down by logic's proverbial eye-beams. But still they fought on, those of them that could still fight…

"Mega flame!"

"Tail hammer!"

And then, one flying back, one who didn't stand a chance, but one who was certainly much, much stronger… "Hikari is safe, guys! Ookuwamon, attack!"

"Destructive impulse!"

Deathmon actually bothered dodging the third attack, before launching a "Black death cloud!" at those who remained… Kuwagamon hadn't been this threatening.

As the black cloud approached, as the clock toward death began to tick… "So, this was the final battle. It just wasn't what we were hoping for.

"_Even you will want to collapse once you hear what happened, but the digimon will need you… Be strong, Hikari-chan."_

What happened next… Even the air didn't feel right for this to happen, though it did gain a sudden stillness, but there were far too many not ready to end it quite yet… And for whatever reason, even if her own Penmon was still neglected, even if what she was about to do had more basis in alliances of convenience and her own emotional questions than any actual love for the digital world…

A floating base approached, a bizarre, furred, eight-limbed, four-winged digimon flew down, more jerking in motions than graceful, for beautiful as the wings of Angemon and Airdramon can be, said wings were not big enough to make such a bizarre chimera anything resembling beautiful in the motions of its flight.

And as the black death cloud approached… "Heat viper!" A wide cone of green light, melting the air around it, even shocking and wounding the already-hurt digimon he was supposed to be saving… (Though perhaps this was saving them, even if it hurt them a bit further)

And then the green heat connected, and the cloud was hit, impaled on a green light with remnants dispersed to the swirling chaos that surrounded this crater-like battlefield… And for once, for only one instant, it seemed that Noriko truly was a chosen child.

* * *

Deathmon flapped his wings angrily, taking his now regenerated left eye, as the chimera, ignoring the many-wounded digimon, turned its furred body towards the undead-looking nightmare soldier.

Perhaps it would continue.

"Exploding eye!" A yellow eyeball, using its own sight to chase after the monstrous perfect, rushing quickly through a small distance… The one-headed, insect-faced chimera, moving with the strength of Garurumon's legs, smacking the bomb away with his almost-metal, Monochromon tail... And then Deathmon, taking his eye back, wondering how he, such a powerful perfect, could lose…

Well, Light had weakened him.

With that, like a coward, like a weak villain in some children's series, unable to fight the forces of good arrayed against him… Sealed within a firewall, one of the worst, most destructive nightmare soldiers even a world as pained as the digital had ever faced… And yet he would lose to some unholy, mix-and-match monstrosity, a _perfect-level_ monstrosity?

No. Running was better, flying even better still… "I'm tired," he remarked, though knowing Deathmon's reputation for silence, those who heard it would later agree they had hallucinated that statement. And then, spreading his black, impish wings, he flew through the light and darkness, through the crater that seemed to be fading as he left, Hikari already gone…

In the digital world, there is supposed to be a balance of light and darkness. When the balance leans too far towards the darkness, chosen children are called for.

Well, supposed to be… Even if the sky was still pink, even if the chosen could return safely to their worlds… This was, well, _different._

Maybe better. Like this adventure could _ever_ match up to the old.

"So this wasn't the final battle after all…" Miyako said tiredly, as those who had known her had their heads explode in confusion. But yes, _Miyako_ was tired.

This was _really_ different. But the chosen were thankful, and if things had changed, the first six parts of any of their adventures had never been much… Worthy, no. But it would be fun, yes, it would be fun… And even with all that had gone on, they would sleep happily.

And so the legend of the chosen children continued…


	7. Chapter 7

_We are adventurers, we were heroes… In times of darkness, we were always summoned, and even if it took a while… in the end, we saved both worlds. _

_To think we could have fallen this far… Even if we ourselves are fighting this evil, not aiding it, even if the digimon will thank us once more, even enjoy bits of our adventure, even if digimon get reincarnated after death, sometimes even keeping their memories…_

_None of that changes this one fact… And the truth is that for all these deaths, all this suffering, we're ultimately the ones to blame._

_

* * *

_

"I wanted to forget; I still want to forget… The digital world, for all it meant, everyone would still be so much better without it, these days… I want to at least escape -- after all, I never really could remember the happy memories.

"But the errand I gave Wormmon is over, and now that he has reason to return…"

Ken continued his musing, still trying to maintain the isolation, still not even having heard what his successor had done regarding Deathmon, of his comrades in the digital world.

"Even though the Crest of Kindness never really glowed for me, even with all the suffering I've brought… I can't call myself kind, not even close, not after all I've done, but -- I still don't have it in me to bring that sadness back to his eyes."

The former Digimon Kaiser was dreading the moment, in truth. Wormmon would be happy, even he might be happy, but if he would be… It's not like the happiness was something anywhere near deserved; in the end, he'd only feel worse.

The world still wouldn't punish him, no matter how much he wracked up in the way of bad deeds. The only suffering he'd feel was that of his own conscience. Not that he hadn't tried, not that he hadn't gone to the Japanese government in February, only to be informed they did not have jurisdiction over the world where the crimes had occurred; not that he hadn't tried the digital world, but the digimon could only ask why a chosen was trying to get himself thrown in jail; someone so gentle and sweet-sounding just _couldn't_ have been that tyrant; besides, he was one of the chosen children that saved them all.

The one who got manipulated into evil, the one who spent over a third of their adventure fighting against the others, but somehow… They had all come to that party of his, they had all been so friendly, so accepting; even Iori came around.

Of course, their bitterness was growing, what with Hikari's appearance to him a few days ago and all, but it wasn't Hikari that had spoke cruelly, and even if she had… It was only two days after Odaiba Memorial, two days after he skipped out on something so important to all of them; there would be reason for cruelty.

As if having been Kaiser wasn't reason enough… Ken continued down this spiral of dark thoughts, perhaps thankful he wasn't in the digital world, though he was sure to keep light vacant enough from his room that it at least _looked_ like a cave, ignoring the glowing computer, ignoring the open gate.

Not noticing the falling, ten-legged, insanely devoted insect, the so-called worm that still wouldn't leave him… He had remembered to move the keyboard and place a pillow underneath the monitor, of course, it wasn't like he'd let Wormmon materialize on such a bumpy surface, so he didn't even hear a scream of confusion or landing-awkwardness telling the former tyrant that his digimon had returned.

It wasn't really until the green digimon slithered up that he noticed; not until those short, familiar legs curled up around his own, causing that well-known, never-deserved sensation of mild contentment.

"_Does he even remember?"_ Ken wondered, half-wishing that feeling from last December could return; he had actually managed to be cheerful then, hadn't he? That party, Daisuke and the others, so accepting… even Iori forgave him…

"Ken-chan?"

"_Yes, he does… He's mentioned it plenty of times, even feeling guilty because he didn't stop me… He tried every single time, but I just hurt him and kept tormenting innocent digimon!"_

"Ken-chan, it's been really hard on you. How about you do a nice bit of mourning, remember the digimon you saved afterward, and let us both put the past behind us."

The black-haired teen glanced at his digimon, wishing he could just let it go so easily.

"Fine then. How 'bout we go to the digital world, stop Noriko from following in your footsteps, kill Deathmon, and maybe the digimon will forgive you and you can finally leave that world."

"_I've already left, haven't I? Even if a few chosen call me back, even though I'm talking to a digimon, that doesn't change the truth… I barely even go there anymore, I ditched them on August 1; even this new adventure I've barely even been there…"_

"You're a chosen child; I don't think you can put your past behind you until you protect the future. What happened to the bitter Ken that wanted to knock over every dark tower in the entire digital world?"

Ken sighed, half a mind to say "he grew up" or "he succeeded," the black monoliths no longer seemed to dot the digital landscape; the map on his black digivice gave every area as white… The dark seeds still grew, but he was a victim there, not a cause, even if there was one kid declaring herself Empress and following so closely down his old path.

"_But I tried; she won't listen. And this isn't like some fight-obsessed anim; neither I nor Wormmon will persuade her in the midst of combat; the best we can hope for is utter victory… Though with her strength, that's an insane hope."_

"There's an enemy in the base. If Penmon opposes Noriko, the results should be the same."

"Do you know how hard it was for me to turn against you, even after all the things you did to me? Are you going to let Noriko and Penmon go through that same thing?"

Ken nodded; then a dark, crushing thought crossed his mind. "I do want to help, even if I've already undone everything I've done… But isn't victory impossible without power?"

The insect, slithering up Ken's leg, shook his round, antenna-holding head. "Daisuke risked a lot to get you onside; he had faith in you as soon as the whip shattered. Doesn't he deserve a little trust?"

The bearer of kindness, though crestless, nodded… It was time he became a true chosen child, time for a digital adventure not brought on simply to undo all the suffering he caused.

And now, with the clarity of a sorrowful past, missing August 1 seemed sensible to him. After all, his deeds last year were only to undo his mistakes, constantly trying to fight it alone, knowing the digital world would have been better if he had never even entered it.

It was right then, as he held of his digivice, at least this time, for this adventure… For once, if only for this single, brief moment, Ken actually thought himself worthy of being called a chosen child.

* * *

Awakening on a mountain, freezing in the cold, digital air… Nestled together for warmth, or for that was how the battle ended, dozing off so quickly that none even noticed that Noriko was still there, or bothered to ponder why the Tsarina didn't kill them, or why she turned Chimeramon towards saving them.

And there they were, huddled for warmth on a mountain not unlike infinity, nostalgically conscious, amidst tired digimon, too far from any portal to return…

Jou had climbed with Gomamon back to the rest of them, his sense of responsibility still strong, even if he couldn't exactly _do_ much of anything for the others… He pondered making the summit like before, but things were different; they were heroes, not appetizing wanderers, and if it were under enemy control… Well, climbing a mountain would give a view, but the view was on both sides, and there were plenty of evil digimon with superb eyesight and aim.

And if one chosen child was on the mountain, there was a good chance of others, so they'd have to level the place. It wasn't like he could even take the risk. He saw the others, eagerly running up to them; he was a chosen child (If neglected and unpopular, if less-renowned than Iori, if never gaining that reverence or even interest among those who followed his heroics…) he had gone through that adventure; he had helped save that world... And even if he had been distant and overly responsible, he was still one of them, so of course he greeted his comrades.

Koushirou was the only one to greet him back.

"Hi." He waved meekly, half an eye still looking towards the wounded, battle-damaged others… Taichi was still beating himself up about it, even if all he had done wrong was having a little too much faith in the others, even if they had all survived – then again, chosen children had always managed to avoid casualties.

Sora was absentmindedly pondering how they were all thinking of the battle at hand while trapped in the digital world, a guilty smile on her meek face, even while she hoped everyone would be okay, even as she tried to bandage Nyokimon and get her wounded digimon, her digimon so exhausted that even her birdlike form was gone, to become a Piyomon once more. While filled with concern for Takeru, it wasn't exactly doubtful that there was treachery in Deathmon's return, and Sora knew the chosen of hope well enough that she could at least guess it was him…

Miyako hadn't left Hikari's exhausted side, placing the wounded bearer of light's head on her lap for support; it was not good for someone so wounded to be on such cold ground, though it wasn't like she didn't want Hikari's head there... And her gaze hadn't left the injured girl's form.

The other four were somewhere in the mix, nursing their own wounds, concerned for their friends, digimon partners, and secret loves, sad about aspects of the battle, wondering why in the digital world Noriko had saved them.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Yamato remarked absentmindedly, glad that at least the others were with him.

"It doesn't really feel like an adventure until we all get stuck away from home," Sora answered, smirking over the protests of the younger chosen.

"Yeah, but we still haven't separated," Taichi said, Yamato breathing words of thanks… "Heck, we haven't even fought about who should lead us."

"Daisuke has the goggles, but you older kids should learn from us. Doesn't matter who leads; we can always ignore him," Takeru answered, his mind going through the dramatic speeches Daisuke made, the fact that his advice was generally held in such a way that speeches like that were _needed. _Taichi had always commanded more loyalty, even when he was just as stupid.

Miyako, happy the chosen had their spirit back, did not mind stepping down, or even just having her role be forgotten… Gomamon wasn't quite as thrilled about it, but he was Gomamon, no one would listen, and Daisuke, despite his efforts, despite his newfound bits of understanding, despite failing as a commanding presence so badly that Miyako turned into the leader without giving him a thought, could not find anyone to take his goggles.

"Keep 'em, Daisuke. But remember…" Miyako began, holding two fingers outward in a shape resembling victory or peace, casting a gaze the unconscious Hikari's way, "The leader doesn't always get the girl."

Taichi, Yamato, and Sora looked nervously towards one another at that comment, then launched into an amused, unified smile.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Daisuke answered, thinking it had been too long since he had hit on Hikari. (Though he wasn't sure if it was Hikari he wanted… Better her than someone who only tried to forget, he supposed.) "We can't get back or anything?"

Sora looked towards the leader of the new chosen, remembering trekking all the way to a Pyokomon village only to find birdseed, a mix of pity and nostalgia in her eyes; still they were discussing the past… But at least it was an amusing discussion, right?

It was Hikari that made them all focus again, even if she was only now awakening… There was a time when she would have apologized, and her light spirit might have mocked their "foolish intervention" with scorn, but the only things she had at present were a single teardrop and a few words of thanks. The girl coughed as she spoke, sparking the concern from her newer comrades that once came from only Taichi, but it wasn't like she would avoid thanking them, touched as she was.

A significant chunk of time passed filled with such reminiscence; hours, the chosen surmised, if the worlds were synchronized and they had properly grasped the digital sun. But in time, even wounded, even if it would be a long hike…

They were chosen once more, and at least this time they'd walk downhill, at least these days digimon thought them heroes, even Sora or Takeru, and after so much closeness and a few months apart, the journey could hardly be boring.

So even amidst the war, even with the possibility that the taint of evil had overthrown even the free will of the digimon around them -- the nostalgic, yet somehow happy chosen children continued on, even managing to forget how the digital world was always bittersweet.

* * *

Piccolomon and Wizarmon, Leomon and Whamon, thousands of Numemon, and the entirety of the Village of Beginnings... They hadn't been forgotten, nothing like that, nothing so terrible. Their stories were still engraved as memories; they were still cause for mourning. But, there was something about that sad wish, something about that adventure, something in the heart of the holder of love that caused those memories to be, well… neglected.

Or, perhaps, callously tossed aside for the sake of adventure, as times had truly become that boring. But even if Black War Greymon and Oikawa were evil at one point, even if the second group of chosen children had done a far better job saving innocent lives – this was the exception, not the rule. Definitely not the rule, as Palmon had already shown. But the wish had been made, the time of war had begun, and as for Deathmon's rampage...

The chosen children continued their journey down the mountainside, barely even taking note of the bipedal lions in the distance, at least until they spoke, talking to their approaching saviors…

"Chosen children… It's good to see a familiar face, if only from the legends," the head swords-feline spoke, bleeding from his thick feline sword-arm.

"What happened?" Hikari asked, concerned despite her own exhaustion and many wounds.

"Let me ask the questions, you need to save your strength," Taichi ordered, as the lion opened his mouth to answer…

"The Leomon Corps have always been valiant warriors, but at times, even we are no match," he answered sadly, sensing the need for an explanation. "Our little army's protected this area for a while, wandering about fighting evil digimon wherever they threatened. And we thought we were strong – not even Ogremon matched up to us; for years we kept the world safe for those parts we could reach."

The lion by his right opened his fanged, leonine mouth. "She came too quickly; we fought with all our might, but we just weren't strong enough…" he spoke, wishing to say no more.

It took another Leomon to actually finish the explanation, as if the memories were simply too painful for any of them to state in full: remembering it alone was painful enough.

"We were on alert and everything, knew she was coming our way, ready to send a hail of beast fists into the sky. And that beast of hers just flew over us and torched the Tsunomon village; we couldn't do anything but watch those poor digimon bleed!"

"I can see…" Jou said, resisting the urge to bring the benefits of modern medicine to the many-wounded Leomon, though he probably wouldn't be fast enough to save more than a couple lives.

"Though we certainly tried… I led the charge," he began, remembering the distant six-winged beast, the attack into green light, hearing the screams of vaporizing lions… "Someone had to attack, and I had always firmly believed in the ideals of the Leomon Corps, the need to fight evil even when we couldn't win…

"Those you see here are only a third of who we once had – the rest. And of the Tsunomon village and the others Chimeramon came for… I can not say for certain, but it is my firm belief that none survived."

"_None survived… Out of how many, thousands, millions, dying from Chimeramon's many claws? And we mourned that one Leomon so much, so to see so many like him sacrifice themselves…" _Sora clutched a hand to her dark, once immensely loving heart, knowing Mimi would not come this time to dig their graves.

"_What's passed has passed; let's focus on the future."_ A noble sentiment, but one she could never live up to; it wasn't like she'd be able to bury such a past when this adventure, this battle against evil was all she had truly wanted… She'd be doing these so-called good deeds anyway, controlling her damage, but still leaving the digital world a deadly playground for the chosen children.

Even though Sora Takenouchi could now call herself alive, like all the chosen children could this month, it would be a life seen through waterlogged eyes overwhelmed by tears.

And yes, she cried. Cried enough tears that the wounded Leomon attempted to make a gesture of sympathy, only to back down with an uncharacteristic hiss, deeply enough that every chosen would attempt words of comfort, but she would only run away.

It was better when her crest simply didn't glow. At least Pico Devimon and Vamdemon weren't her fault, though she was charged with the task of stopping them; that was failing a quest, not destroying a world herself. And it didn't help, but the others looking at her, baffled though some of them might be, were certainly saddened too, though they (barely) endured the pain.

Even Takeru had trouble thinking it would be worth it for another adventure, and it seemed like the dead themselves were the only ones who had any power to comfort… Only Koushirou's overly analytical mind could even think up a reason to hope, and simply mentioning that reason would far more likely bring tears, so he kept silent, simply remembering one fact… The truth that four years and six days ago, Wizarmon, unable to stop almost any of Vamdemon's atrocities or even keep the vampire's whip off Tailmon, died without regrets.

Perhaps, in the one feeble silver lining of hope even the one who once held that crest could not find, the wizard digimon would never have been so near Tailmon's heart, never so content with the life he lived, if the digital world had been brought to eternal peace.

* * *

Noriko paced around her floating base once more, asking that same question of herself. _"Why?"_

Deathmon had been wounded, quite seriously, seriously enough that a decent-strength attack at that point might have actually killed the beast… He'd be facing a full-strength Chimeramon, after all, had only she ordered her digimon to launch his attack on Deathmon… That should have been enough to finish the job, to secure power over the digital world.

Power… Basic balance-of-power theory_ seemed_ to work for keeping the chosen alive, but she'd be facing Deathmon alone; the digimon themselves would ensure her victory. But that only made sense if Deathmon would have lived anyhow, otherwise… Well, the chosen alone clearly weren't strong enough to stop her, even if they had gotten lucky far too many times before.

The young girl ended her short walk, rested her back on her throne, and looked through all-seeing screens, yet with a mind only trying to remember a certain feeling…

There was something in her, of that she was certain, something driving the dark seed empress to such heroic deeds. "What, like I'm a chosen child or something?"

It did kind of make sense: this was the natural assumption for a nine-year-old kid in the digital world, even one expressing this bitterness toward humanity. And even if she showed a bit of contempt at times, when all was said and done, she had never even _wounded_ Penmon, and there was the intervention against Deathmon to think about … Noriko had to smirk at the idea of _her_ as a chosen child… But she had to ponder it as well; it was too amusing. (Not that the gods chose well or anything... As far as she was concerned, they were just some kids unable to live up to the challenge until the last minute, leaving the digital world too soon so the Dark Masters could take over, spending forever to activate their crests, ultimately pathetic.)

Come to think of it, if she was made a chosen child for the fight against the Digimon Kaiser and the rest, Noriko couldn't avoid believing she'd have done much, much better. … But it was _corny_, foolish, hypocritical; Ken had shown her well enough what sort of silly things they believed. If she could see it after only nine years, what was keeping them from realizing their foolishness?

It just simply wasn't sensible; the holy beasts were supposed to choose better than that. Purity and innocence were lofty ideals, but easily smashed ones, and choosing heroes based on childhood foolishness; the protectors of the world had to know better than that, didn't they?

"Well, I am conquering rather quickly," she remarked, half a mind to storm the human world; at least there, stupidity wouldn't reach the top. But here… Her enemies were courage, friendship, hope, light, love: the sort of things that were destroyed by simple reality.

So letting her aerial base coast along with the winds, too distracted to even set a course… All she could ask, through her haze of confusion and destiny, was a simple question. "Then why did I save them?"

* * *

"Something's coming…" Tailmon spoke, her catlike ears able to definitely pick up _something_ in the distance, something coming from the distant air, as if floating, and with it, an odd, otherworldly chill… It was an unusual sensation, the sort caused by the dark ocean or a floating fortress filled with viral nightmare soldiers, sending a chill up her fur as she saw a bit of darkness float out of a cloud… Darkness. Floating. As if from some evil chariot, pulled by black-shrouded Devidramon. Tailmon couldn't help but count herself fearful, just looking at it approach was scary enough, watching the sky darken around it through her, as if the approaching object simply destroyed all light…

But he was dead now, wasn't he? Truly dead, not just a Vamdemon-death leading to a more powerful return… Even in her head the reasoning sounded stupid. But he had taken what was effectively a contained nuclear explosion through his soul, right? That had to have killed him.

"_Just like when I shot that arrow of heaven through his heart. Just like when the crests bound him and the ultimates attacked, and the young digimon said so confidently that we defeated him for good this time… How can we ever know, when can we ever consign him to the past, when will the scars under my gloves hold only dark memories?"_

Upon closer, thankful inspection, it wasn't Vamdemon's chariot; just Noriko's floating fortress.

"Beast King Fist!" And at that cry, Tailmon turned, watching one of the healthier Leomon strain his arm to shoot a lion's head of energy into the sky, towards the approaching base…

"Leomon, why are you attacking?" Sora asked, a bit taken aback by the suddenness of the strike.

"Have you considered what's in that fortress?" the wounded lion roared back, his fighting spirit intact, wondering if that _chosen child_ girl could really be that stupid. "She's not keeping a bunch of fluffy Patamon up there; that base contains an army."

A brown, furry, quite fluffy Patamon took offense to that statement from atop Takeru's hat, but found himself ignored by the bipedal feline digimon.

"Yeah, there are digimon there, innocent, controlled ones! Have you at all considered what will happen to them if you manage to crash the base? It's not just gonna break their dark rings!"

The Leomon looked sadly at Iori, knowing that no words about "the way of the warrior" would truly be of any help to this kid, the chosen who had only had to kill once in his entire adventure, and even then only in jogress. The kid who once _caught _Noriko, who came so close towards turning her to good… There wasn't an argument he could make about different tactics or necessities in war, Iori knew all too well, and even his cold, rational mind was tempered by a moral character far too strong to kill innocents, even for the greater good… The warrior digimon didn't find it easy himself, either, but he had seen far too much of what Noriko had done.

Taichi, Yamato, Takeru, Jou – one of them might have given a lecture about the needs of the many or the horrors of war, about how the digimon would fly out at them and ravage the digital world given half the chance, even if they were controlled… But the way things were going, broken as they were, only Koushirou had even the composure.

"Iori-san…" Koushirou began heavily, trying to avoid talking down to Iori as a child, despite his youth, but simply trying to treat him as an honorable pacifist unwilling to commit atrocities. "Are you familiar with the theory behind collateral damage?"

Iori nodded, trying to avoid going into an outburst of anger; anger could only prove counter-productive when power was on the other side. "Forgive me for saying this, but I honestly don't think it applies here."

"It doesn't?" Koushirou answered, baffled by the younger one's words. "Please explain, Iori-san."

"While it is true that murdering these digimon would indeed stop a greater evil…" he said, looking at the Leomon's pained, empty firing, the chosen children's half-hearted effort, Noriko ignoring it all, as if it didn't faze her. The results of a massacre would be terrible, yes, but was it really worth debating the ethics of a plan so obviously bound for harmless failure?

Still, it would be rude not to explain. "The fact remains that not a single evil digimon would die, and Noriko might even be an ally by now, so attacking here is simply a massacre."

Koushirou nodded, a bit surprised at how convincing the new holder of curiosity had become… Even given his traits, his maturity, he had never expected someone as young as Iori to be able to sway others (though there was one time Takeru did the same).

"Leomon doesn't expect to win this battle." Yamato stated plainly, coldly, watching the useless lion-heads, the digimon losing strength… "I'm just glad Mimi's not around to see this."

"You mean…" Sora began her answer; she probably wouldn't have finished the thought even if this "adventure" wasn't all for her to blame, even if this Leomon would have died anyway.

Taichi nodded. "I've seen it before, but it was always self-sacrifice, not just throwing their lives away…"

Iori, Miyako, and Daisuke glanced at the others, wondering to what exactly the older children were referencing, but they all seemed to have a fair bit of knowledge about the dying warrior… They weren't the mature sort; they wouldn't even cast any knowing, sympathetic looks, but it was clear there was _something_ painful involving a Leomon in their previous adventure…

They didn't know or anything, and tempted as they were to jump in, there were too many innocent digimon in the base. There was the other side, of course but even if she did stop Deathmon; even if, in terms of innocent digimon dying, her victory would actually be better...

When dealing with a self-sacrificial hero, a veteran risking his life countless times to protect others, when this warrior is using all his power in an attempt to slay a brutal tyrant… Well, there was a level of nobility, a level of admiration, a certain respect they had for the lion, a feeling that kept them from stopping him… They may not have liked his deeds, but going to attack him and help out the empress just couldn't be done; the second group simply wasn't heartless enough to save hundreds of lives.

Even if it was risking millions.

So with nothing else to do, they watched, tears not yet in their eyes… As the Leomon strained, on the verge of collapsing, as the Tsarina laughed, preparing her finishing blow, all they would do, all any of them would do was watch, but the tears came eventually, as the others simply watched the green cone of death in sad horror.

The chosen children weren't supposed to be this helpless.

* * *

Sora glanced at the post-battlefield scene, thinking of the heroically resisting Leomon corps, if suicide truly counted as heroic.

She noticed something floating by in the background. It didn't seem much of something, just odd chunks of brown and black, perhaps dirt from some mountainside wind? It didn't matter what it was to her or anything; the slaughter was horrible enough, she was enough to blame…

Putting her head to her knees, sobbing in memorial, she tried to think of some other reason; anything to keep her from the blame she so richly deserved. The world was a cruel place; the dark seed children would have turned eventually, and if not, that was Taichi and Hikari failing, not her…

Her mind went over the phrase "dark seed children," as in the plural, remembering how even in childhood, the Japanese educational system can be cruel. Tears flowing down her auburn hair, she scanned for thoughts of what could happen next in such a situation, but her mind mercifully failed to connect…

Yes, it was merciful. It may prove to have dire consequences later on – she couldn't tell – but this brain of hers was truly showing mercy, if nothing else. Piyomon was Birdramon at the moment, and had gone off in reconnaissance to view the extent of the devastation; the bearer of love had all but ordered it, so there would be no bird digimon nestling against her leg.

No Takeru to come to her arms either, and if Taichi and Yamato hadn't figured it out by now, given her earlier reactions, neither would even ask anything romantic of _her_… It would be this way, simply one over-worrying, supposedly loving girl, crying on a mountainside, a heart torn between adventure and mourning the many digimon she had lost—no, the many digimon she had killed.

* * *

Hikari stretched her arms out; more to the point, she had regained the strength to stretch her arms. The battle had been long, tiring; she had always used her light powers indirectly before, but an aftermath like _this… _

She hadn't expected it or anything; at least, she remembered risking everything, but she always thought that meant life or limb, not the utter depths of her energy. Admittedly, she was among friends, even as out-of-whack Miyako's hormones got sometimes, she had too much respect for her to try anything, and even if she did there were plenty of chosen children around; so the bearer of light could feel _safe_, at least…

That wasn't the issue. She peered at her fellow chosen children, watching her broken allies, their tears seeming to be of mourning… It was a deep sadness in each one, even Taichi had broken down about his poor leadership; he wouldn't start a revenge mission this time.

Naturally, her eyes turned to Takeru most of all, the bishounen's back curved, his eyes focused on the white-green digivice, his hands clutching it with sorrow; but the back would be just so good for laying against… No, she couldn't think that way, even if he looked hot, it would be from his tears and poses of sorrow… And the blonde-haired chosen child seemed just so sad, sadder than she could ever recall. (Although she did remember her brother talking about this one time when Angemon first evolved…)

"Takeru-kun, even **I **lose sometimes, evil's hardly an easy foe… You shouldn't beat yourself up so much about it."

The bearer of hope nodded slightly, lifting his head; such a sad pose never really suited him anyway. Then again, he was too old these days to just let the tears flow, even if such crying had made him not succumb to his own fears, and his channeling of sorrow into hatred for darkness would only turn him towards self-loathing… It was that bad. After all, whom could he blame, when this was his own wish?

"It's not like that…"

Hikari frowned, saddened, trying to think… That he could be so sad while there was still a battle to be fought, even if they had only known each other for four years, the bearer of light could still think back to him as a little kid, watching the Numemon, not even becoming anywhere near this beat-up about it afterward, the tragedy that would make him like this while keeping Patamon and Yamato alive simply didn't exist. "_Unless…"_

She thought deeply, his odd guilt, his sneaking around, why he cursed his _digivice_, of all things, even how Noriko managed to find Deathmon and what Miyako was holding back telling her… It made sense. There was nothing she wanted less, and sensible things could turn out to be false assumptions, but… It _made sense_, dammit!

Takeru looked back to his digivice, thinking of when it first activated, finding it as powerless to truly help him as ever. What good would Angemon be now? Could a hand of fate evaporate his boredom like it once did to Devimon? Of course not… Angemon was a great warrior, sure, and a beautiful one; to stare at his beautiful, feathery wings, or to gaze at his muscular chest, or all sorts of other things he could do with his digimon that would probably confuse his budding sexuality, he'd probably find it fun and all…

But what would the point be? However attractive his digimon was, however devoted he would be to his happiness, and he was sure of that… This was Angemon, not afraid to die for him, hugging him constantly in earlier forms; he wouldn't at all be surprised to be the subject of the angel's lust; at least if angels _could _lust.

And it would certainly be pleasurable, but ultimately pointless… No matter what he did to Angemon, when such things were done, however pleasurable, he would still have his sadness… And even the most pleasurable sensations grow dimmer with time.

So his digivice was useless, his adventure seemed useless, too, though at least he felt alive while it happened…

Hikari continued to gaze at him, continuing her earlier concerns, her earlier fears, as a random thought murmured through her still-unbroken heart.

"_We never built that memorial for the Numemon, did we?"_ She pushed her random thought to the back of her brain, watching the possibly treacherous chosen child she loved…

"If it's not that, what is it?" Takeru sighed, shrugged, seeming to have a distinct inability to answer. He knew all too well the answer, of course; this was his own suffering, but…

It was just too hard to say it, even if his spirit was cold enough to tell her such a thing, his hatred for the darkness was simply too vast for him to admit falling completely into evil. Even if he weren't as hopeful as before, after all, he was still Takeru.

"_Though it's not like I hated evil enough not to **turn **to it for the sake of a new adventure…"_

"Takeru-kun, did you…" She paused, her suspicions strong; it wasn't at all like she expected a misunderstanding and the return of a destined love. This was a grave question, with a grave response, and only sorrow to follow. Truth be told, shehadn't actually pondered not asking, but not saying anything was looking more and more appealing by the second.

If only she hadn't already opened her mouth. As the question was asked, with the tears of true sorrow in his eyes, Takeru weakly nodded.

It was all the confirmation she needed to break her heart.

* * *

_I… What I wanted…_

_The victory of light, good triumphing over evil, humans and digimon living together in peace… That's not a bad thing, is it?_

_But… Gennai tried to stop me, to keep the worlds apart. Noriko had her own digimon, but she's still proclaimed herself empress, and Takeru…_

_Even Takeru… _

_What happened to us? Hope was never meant to turn to evil… Maybe we wouldn't end up together, but at least I'd thought we'd end up on the same side!_

Hikari Yagami, holder of the crest of light, sighed as she thought, remembering all they had shared… Memories, so many, enough times close to each other that everyone tried to set them up; she never exactly minded.

_He promised to protect me, didn't he? Even in the dark ocean, or against Piemon… I… I don't understand. I don't understand!_

_Is it because I'm too weak? In the end, does good ever really triumph?_

_No… It does. So for chosen children, for even Takeru to turn to evil… Then I'm the one who's failing._

_

* * *

_

Iori sighed.

Had he known the meaning of Takeru's nod, if those two weren't so ambiguous… Jogress partners or not, he would have been even more hostile to him than he was to Ken — Shakkoumon wasn't _that _important; he would have thrown his bokken desperately, trying to deal a fatal blow.

Daisuke, if he knew of this… Hikari as "his girl" was little more than a dream by now; friendships had grown between them, but he would still be willing to throttle the bearer of hope over this.

Taichi… Taichi knew. But Taichi also understood; hard as he might fight what Takeru in part provoked, he wasn't entirely against it… And indecisive as he was today, Hikari would find no revenge from her older brother or anything; it would just have been too hypocritical.

Sora was the same, Ken was absent, the others wouldn't have realized… The bond between the partners of angels, between hope and light, it was a strong one, with so many things unseen.

But that doesn't just refer to the good parts, and their unspoken, oft-unnoticed love led to that same kind of heartbreak.

* * *

"Hikari?"

The girl ignored the black, gloved claw against her skin, ignored the small cat's feeble attempts at pushing her, even ignored the voice of the one who once waited forever to see her…

Tailmon didn't want to do this. She _really _didn't want to do this. Strictly speaking, it contravened everything a chosen child's digimon stood for (Gabumon's occasional biting aside), and it was more Miyako's style anyway.

But with how her partner was now… How much of a choice did she really have?

Slash! A yellow hand, three black claws, the smooth cheek of the wounded light… "Hikari, snap out of it!"

The bearer of light glanced at the white cat digimon, her eyes becoming solid, almost-possessed shapes of brown. "What is it, Tailmon?"

The adult-level digimon sighed, noticing the bearer of light's pink-gloved hand, how it didn't even react… The scratch had done nothing; these were not the magic slaps of old, and Tailmon still doubted she could get through to her.

But after a cut like that, after having _reason_ to slash the girl she once waited a lifetime for, the feline digimon had to say _something._ "You're not yourself… There's something wrong with you now, but you haven't said anything, even to me…"

The cat dipped her head sadly, her feline eyes showing a far too familiar sorrow, wishing her words could truly save Hikari from falling into the same cave of darkness that seemed to trap every chosen child.

"Tailmon…" She gazed at her digimon, looking through unblinking eyes, then glancing back over to the darkness-turned hope. "It's… Takeru-kun."

The former lackey of Vamdemon appeared saddened by this, skillfully repressing the urge to yell something about forgetting him, or about how she still had her digimon's love… She was more mature than that; love born of comfort was common enough in fantasies, but a tactful distance and unrequited deep feelings were more her way, were more all of their ways.

Even Miyako hadn't tried to take advantage of the situation; and if Daisuke still had the interest, it seems his adventures had given him the maturity not to… Okay, Daisuke did **not** still want Hikari, and if this hadn't shown it, what would?

No, it would be a sad distance, a respectful distance, a heartbreak amidst close friends… Takeru, for his part, felt quite horrible for his deeds; Sora would do nothing; the triangles still spun, and in time the young Takaishi found himself in Yamato's tender arms… At least he could do this much to be a good brother to Takeru. And Hikari, regardless of words like "respect" or "keeping your distance," her eyes possessed, the scratch-mark, Miyako's later slap, both useless, simply cried; friends within sight, but still crying alone.

Then again, with light itself betrayed, with the chosen children themselves acting against her dream, something of a break-up with Takeru in a crushing way far worse than she could ever have imagined, all she really wanted to do was cry.

* * *

Noriko, from amidst her floating fortress and confusion-built haze, could only laugh at the weakness of the chosen children. Were those who broke down so easily _really_ the ones who toppled Piemon, Apocalymon, even her predecessor and Vamdemon?

Quite plainly, these kids cried over… what? They hadn't even lost, and they were supposed to be the ones saving the digital world?

Admittedly, she didn't know. She figured there was something she didn't know; even _they _weren't this weak in spirit, but that wasn't enough to calm her confused spirit... What could possibly be sad enough to break them like this after a **victory**? Sure, it was undeserved; sure, it was only because she intervened, but surely she would have smiled if the chosen children had saved her, so long as her armies weren't wiped out. (They were rather important for ruling the world, after all… But the chosen children hadn't lost anyone, so that didn't work either to explain.)

_But they're fools, aren't they? It's not like they ever made sense, or even like they had their priorities straight. Is it possible that what they're all torn up about doesn't have anything to do with this fight?_

It was possible, she supposed, foolish as they were. It might even be probable; there was simply no loss, no reason, not even enough innocent lives lost to cause such sadness… She mulled over their encounter with the Leomon corps, then dismissed it; a few dead lions simply couldn't have that sort of impact.

_So then, what is it? I still don't understand…_

Sighing, she supposed it was meaningless. Knowing one's enemy was useful and all, but when the enemy was so much weaker… Did it really matter what they thought as they died?

* * *

There would be no further battle today.

The chosen continued to walk down the mountain they had found such sorrow, down the mountain with shades of infinity; at least they weren't walking uphill… None of them wanted it to end, but even adventures had their periods of rest.

_Yeah, resting seasick and tired, hiding in sheer terror._ But at least it let them clear their souls, at least it gave their digimon some time to regain strength, at least that now-reconfigured beach was still a place of memories.

Looking at the sky, in one of those rare times she wasn't thinking of Hikari's crying form or trying to end her tears, Miyako absentmindedly thought uphill would be more fitting. And rain.

Yes, sometimes, even the digital world needed rain… She couldn't recall ever seeing it, but it was needed now, if only for atmosphere. Focusing her ears, trying to hear drizzle, the purple-haired girl found nothing, not even words…

She glanced back at the saddened girl, watching Hikari try to hide her tears, wanting to just scoop the brown-haired girl into her comforting arms, as if that would be of any help.

Gazing at the rocky mountain-path, thinking once more of the rain failing to pour down on her, she had to wonder. There wasn't much plant life, but there were memories to think of and trees off in the distance, but without rain… It was downright _prodigious_, really; she'd have to come back here someday and figure out the digital ecosystem. (Though if she lived long enough unbroken, if the digital world was intact, if that day ever came, she'd probably learn only of Tanemon growing meat and magical areas with only the sacred number "404").

But ultimately, that wasn't important.

Taichi, Tailmon, Takeru, Daisuke, all respectfully distant or losing themselves in their own, weaker thoughts of failure… Daisuke.

Where was Daisuke? What the heck had happened to him, why was he so silent? Yes, his enthusiasm might cause as much groans as helpfulness, but she could really use some cheer right now, and it seemed downright out-of-character for him to just say nothing.

She didn't realize at all the impact Ken just disappearing had on him, didn't know of the constant, unanswered messages through the D-terminal, wouldn't have pegged him the type to care about that if she did… Then again, just _leaving_ like that, just ignoring every bit of the digital world, everything they shared… Still, he was stronger than that, so much stronger, right?

Miyako's eyes then glimpsed Hikari once more, her sadness so evident even in her slow steps, her back seeming so wounded as she walked, and not just from exhaustion.

_When the light drowns from sadness…_

She would do something. She had to do something, for Hikari's sake, for everyone's, most likely.

But what… This wasn't just some fairy tale; even if love was the digimental she held, Miyako knew all too well its weaknesses; she couldn't just use that, so…

What could she do that would be powerful enough to ease Hikari's sorrow?

* * *

Night descended from the mountaintop crater; a dark night, a night seeming to mirror the digital world's balance in the battle between good and evil. The journey was a long one, but though it may have been cheating of sorts, a bit of food made Aquilamon and Birdramon at least able to fly the chosen into the forest below, if not back to digital civilization.

Aquilamon… Miyako sighed. Hawkmon was determined to please her, but no amount of noble, avian charm could do it, not with her former jogress partner as she was.

_Then again, isn't she going through the same thing with Takeru? I'm no different than Hawkmon, no more powerful… No! I should get myself together!_

"Perfecto!" the purple-haired girl randomly screamed, pointing off in the distance, as the others sweat-dropped in confusion and unrelieved sorrow.

"Umm, Miyako-chan…" Hikari began timidly, her tone oddly deferring; it didn't seem the light-hearted method of conversation familiar among close friends.

"Yeah, what is it?"

Time stopped. Or perhaps just the environment around them stopped, but the digital world wasn't prone to normal time anyway, and if only for an instant, from the emotions of the chosen children and a very bored Clockmon… The rivers weren't flowing, the branches were silent, the once-howling wind had suddenly dissipated.

More interestingly, Hikari Yagami gave her response; the first request Miyako could ever recall her ever making.

"Please stop."

And that was it… The bearer of light, the amazingly unassertive girl who didn't want to be a burden, the one who wouldn't say anything as she fell sick in Mugen Dramon's city so as to not slow anyone down who endured the sickness without complaint…

She had made one request to Miyako in her life, not a favor, not (as she had often fantasized) something romantic or perverted, but "please stop" after an attempt to cheer her up with an iconic, chosen-child yell.

Of course, the purple-haired girl shut her mouth obediently, she wouldn't deny the bearer of light's one request. But that the only thing she had ever asked was something like this, that her attempt at energy had seemed so mockingly out-of-place to provoke such a reaction from _Hikari._

The purple-haired girl wouldn't say much of anything for the rest of their journey; Hikari had enough impact to make her _quiet_, of all things… Her days of chasing after the bishounen-of-the-day—had they ended the moment she gained a jogress partner?

She didn't know. And Hikari, ever-compassionate Hikari, didn't even notice Miyako's sadness at that particular request.

* * *

It had been a peaceful day, at least. Save the Leomon, who, like all Leomon, would likely be forever mourned.

But despite the lack of soul-crushing battle, or much of anything at all… A single revelation, and Takeru's compassionate self had been found wanting, so he wandered off unnoticed, Patamon on his head.

A single revelation and Hikari's heart was broken. Taichi, Yamato, Sora, the older chosen… They knew this sort of thing all too well, of course, and Taichi was the only one among the older children with feelings _that_ powerful towards the bearer of light. But… they weren't happy either, not even close; this narrator has simply turned towards the tears of the others.

As night fell, as they pulled up with their digimon to a forest-floor rest, Yamato sleeping in Garurumon's fur, Jou in Ikakkumon's, the rest wishing they had digimon better for warmth… There they were, alone, together, trapped in the digital world.

It was, or at least seemed… an interesting adventure. But "interesting" doesn't stop sorrow, angst, or the bittersweet tone the digital world had always held.

* * *

Author's notes:

First off, my utmost apologies to the Takari fans… It's such a powerful pairing with such feelings of perfection towards it, though! And I can't resist the urge to poke fun a bit.

This chapter was more coupling-ish than I intended… Sorry 'bout that.

And my complete apologies for the wait. Hope it was worth it, will try for more ambigiuous pairings next time…

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! This is not the end, though every chapter works as one!


	8. Chapter 8

_Those who die in the human world, or who perish in the world of dreams… Those made from dark towers, never to be reborn, or simply those stuck waiting years, even decades, before the village of beginnings takes them back…_

_Far too often, they are forgotten. Life goes on, and in the occasional non-boring week, who takes time out to think of the dead? In a fast-paced, never-ending adventure, new digimon would be met, be remembered, and those like Chuumon – they'd be relegated to the ash-heap of history._

_But even if their bodies are broken, even if, save Wizarmon's ghost, they influence nothing… Their spirits are hardly vanquished._

_

* * *

_

And there they were; the ghosts of the digital world, cut off from the living, yet unable to manipulate dice, playing cards, or a keyboard; the way the powerless alive pass the time would not work for incorporeal spirits.

So they talked, and talked some more, looking down on the surface, every now and then trying desperately, but failing in an effort to influence the world below. (Well, maybe not quite _failing,_ at least in Wizarmon's case.)

"My destiny… No, must forget, that was so long ago… Iori's kept to his morals, hasn't he?"

Gennai, ever able to transfer between life and death, (among other weird abilities of those lacking attributes) sighed at the recolor Ultimate. Yes, _Iori _did, the problem was that no one _else_ had.

"Mimi's okay, right?" Palmon asked, speaking in her usual high-pitched, worried tone.

"She's been a bit pacific lately, and she _really_ misses you. But she'll recover," a butterfly answered, floating past, seeming to have at least a touch of happiness about it. "I wonder if we could set her up with Pipimon; the poor guy waited so long for nothing…"

"You're not _nothing, _Oikawa," Wizarmon answered, tapping the butterfly with his ethereal staff, or at least trying to; the staff simply slipped through the prismatic, still half-broken man turned insect. "I just hope my message helped Tailmon."

"To have nothing more to hope for in the afterlife or even to worry about…" Oikawa fluttered sadly, seeming to encircle the digital ground. "We're not all so lucky as to die without regrets."

"You did your best too, you made it. But if Tailmon's life was the one that ended…"

"Yeah, you don't have to rub it in, wizard," Leomon answered, still thinking of the empress's recent slaughter. "To try as they were… Damn, if only I hadn't inspired them to go off lacking such in strength!" the slightly-crying lion added; even the bravest warriors could not always maintain composure.

"At least you can be proud of what you did…" Black War Greymon answered bitterly. "Even if they die, those who follow your path still make the digital world a better place." Putting a regretful claw to his own transparent neck, he pondered mentioning that they had not entirely stayed noble in the end, but decided against it; such a thought seemed likely only to make the dead hero sadder.

Changing the subject, on the other hand… It _could_ only make things worse, the possibility was there -- but they were all gathered there for something, and there had been these rather important events ever since Chosen Arrival Day.

"So, Gennai, how have the kids been doing lately?"

The Jedi-looking young man seemed pained at this answer, his face wrinkling with sorrow, seeming more like the elder Gennai of old. "Yeah, it's hard now. Once half the **chosen children **come out, I'm not convinced that the prejudices will remain."

Black War Greymon, from his place in that weird, digital afterlife, ethereally sweatdropped.

"Oh, you meant the recent goings-on with the Tsarina, didn't you? Those fools got lucky the first two times, that's all, we're doomed."

At this point, a butterfly cried.

"Tailmon's gone through enough; I can't let her lose Hikari," Wizarmon spoke, though given his current lack of life, given the trouble he had just to give a simple message, it didn't seem like the sorcerer had much choice in the matter.

"Wizarmon, you've done more than I could… Have faith in these children; they've never failed before," Leomon answered, trying to put a comforting hand on the wizards shoulder, but the muscular, leonine arm went through him; old habits died hard.

Sukamon was tempted to let loose a bitter response about the dark masters, but stayed silent; it wasn't like the chosen had any way of knowing how differently time passed.

"Are you certain?"

"They've passed every test we've given," Leomon answered firmly, confidently, seeming _completely_ certain, or maybe just filled with blind, foolish hope.

"Yes, but this is different…" Oikawa remarked mournfully, a tone he still managed to take even in the digital world.

"Vamdemon was different. The Dark Masters were different. The Kaiser was different. They've faced so many foes—even I sometimes doubted them—but these children are strong."

"I'm not sure… And the digital world, it could b--" the broken, ever-lonely, many-colored butterfly began, and the lion had but one response to that.

"I am."

* * *

_I will never be forgiven._

Ken Ichijouji looked down from Stingmon's arms towards the digital world, sadly looking at the restored trees and cities, the healed world: healed with Oikawa's blood, not his. Never his.

Was this his rightful penance? It didn't matter.

If he had bothered to concern himself with the more entertaining things in life, if he had freed up some time on his schedule between all the soccer, chess, and interviews to watch some anime, he might have thought himself a Kenshin-like figure.

As it was, he never even bothered comparing Imperial Dramon to a Gundam, and even when a peace of paper fluttered by a small bit of writing on it, the writing translating roughly in the English tongue to "No climax, no point, no meaning," all he could think of it as was a message on the futility of existence. Still—scenery, how to phrase his destiny—none of that really mattered.

He had… a quest. A mission. For the sake of two worlds, Noriko had to be stopped.

For those few months he had battled Arachnemon, Black War Greymon, Oikawa, and Belial Vamdemon, he had not once worn a disguise. Between the gaps in his memory, coping with his newfound lack of genius, and desperate struggle against evil, it had never occurred to him.

Come to think of it, he had been disguised enough during his reign of evil, so his normal form probably wouldn't have brought about the connection... But still, someone had to have realized, and it seemed like a great bit of luck that no digimon who lost friends and family to the Kaiser, driven to revenge from the pain of loss, ever ran into him.

A Sabirdramon flapped its fiery, dark wings, seeming to just now have begun flying near him, as a bit of recognition sunk into its crimson eyes.

"Good luck, Kaiser. Save this world."

The black-haired kid smiled weakly, yet sorrowfully, at once determined, happy, regretful, and confused, as his digimon flew off and upward. Its wings spun in a propeller-like motion, buzzing the air beneath, as a blue, wide-bodied dragon flapped furiously and zoomed up on his right.

"Ken! What's up?" the V-dramon's rider asked, his voice projecting in that way Daisuke's always could, loudly coming to his ears even amidst the digital gusts of flight.

The bearer of kindness thought for a bit, still unsure even how to answer him; there was a certain heaviness about the chosen as of late. "Hmm…" he began, uncharacteristically thinking aloud while trying to explain, but it was better than _ignoring his truest friend,_ even if he had run away from him far too many times. And somehow, sometimes, without even a slap, one comes to pour their heart out in sadness…

"Daisuke…" Ken began, speaking seriously, heavily, with a tone he had only used for his thoughts and certain conversations with Wormmon. "These days, lately, with Noriko and all, it's just… I've been thinking about the digital world all the time, and it kinda brings back memories."

"I know," V-mon's partner answered. "Remember when we joined forces against Ookuwamon?"

Ken sighed. Jogress partner or not, leader or not, love interest or not, some things just never got through Daisuke's skull. He _did_ remember that particular battle, yes; did Daisuke remember _why_ they were fighting it? After all, the Ookuwamon, the path that led them to the battle in the first place, it was only so they could stop his old base from exploding. And in the end, all he did was give up the crest he had never deserved.

_All the other crests… Yeah, it took a while sometimes, but at least they got around to glowing, at least their holders' digimon didn't need to borrow Daisuke's strength just to reach the Perfection stage…_

"It's… not like that, Daisuke-kun. You were never the Digimon Kaiser."

"Yeah, and I never sealed Demon either. What's your point?" He answered, confused, but somehow, Ken still smiled at his answer, even as he seemed embarrassed for his friend's foolishness. But for the holder of kindness, for all he thought he had come to terms with his past, all those sympathetic words had not the slightest effect.

"Regardless of that… Regardless of whatever you say… Those were my hands cracking the whip, my hands throwing the dark rings, and I didn't even have an excuse like the digimon I enslaved." Ken answered, obvious sorrow overwhelming his voice.

"Cheer up; we all make mistakes."

"I don't really think it works like that," the dragon digimon answered from below Daisuke, reflexively sweat-dropping at the comparison.

"Right," the brown-haired chosen began, finding no useful words, and therefore, quite logically, changing the subject. Besides, noticing one flying around, away from the rest, yet so desperate to atone does sort of bring out curiosity. "What're you up to?"

"I've seen enough… Even if she's lost all faith in me, Noriko still has to be stopped."

Daisuke smiled, seeming to have instantly forgotten everything he had remembered about Deathmon or saving Hikari's life, hoping that Imperial Dramon would see life once more, and yes, wanting a nice bit of time with Ken; it would be a nice break from all the nostalgia and losing to Miyako. "You didn't invite me?"

"I must go alone."

"I'll come with you!" Daisuke protested.

"No, just Wormmon can go," Ken answered, but at least he was smirking.

"And what good is Wormmon without a jogress partner? Besides -- there's a reason you haven't succeeded by now." Ken cast a long glance Daisuke's way, as the boy motioned the V-dramon to fly over to the beetle, taking his best friend's hand. "Let's go together."

"Fine…" Ken suddenly remembered something from his network of surveillance, from his days as Kaiser, from outside Andromon's factorial dome. And at that point, his digimon flying nervously by Daisuke's side, the bishounen smiled.

* * *

"Hikari-chan!"

"What is it?" the girl answered slowly, lacking exasperation, but still far from having the energy of the glasses-wearing, orange-helmeted one who had just called for her.

"We're jogress partners, right?"

The other girl nodded, having not the slightest idea where Miyako's current train of thought led, but curious nonetheless. "But the last time we tried -- Tailmon couldn't do anything with Aquilamon."

"That's exactly what I was thinking about," the purple-haired holder of purity answered slyly, a smirk on her face. "When two hearts beat as one… If our bodies are as one, our hearts and digimon can't help but follow, right?"

The holder of light, upon hearing the suggestion, blushed a deep, scandalized crimson. "Miyako-chan!"

And at that point, confused as ever, surrounded by her fellow chosen children and the digimon that always stood by their side, Hikari Yagami once more opened her eyes.

"You okay?" Tailmon spoke, a voice thick with concern for the oft-wounded, far too silent girl.

"I'm fine," she answered, for what that could mean from one who'd sooner fall sick than slow the others down, her mind still trying to remember… A dream? A flashback, towards recent-yet-neglected yuri memories? Or perhaps, just a simple possession, her mind being given incredibly odd visions as the light informed the chosen.

For now, while Miyako Inoue was wracked by a mix of concern for her recently-heartbroken friend and envy for what she could make out of her counterpart in Hikari's dreams (along with the hope that comes from such envy, dreams being what they are,) the younger, just-awakened girl felt herself unable not to wonder.

Far away, in the depths of the dark ocean, Dagomon, along with the recently-banished Demon, were bored out of their minds. But, tempting a target as Hikari was, it seemed she could not be taken -- so they simply resumed abducting people from random seaside villages and forbidden Rhode Island libraries, still staying apart from the digital world.

For now.

Hikari continued her thoughts, blushing in Miyako's presence oddly; dreaming of something like that and waking up to the person in question beside you did tend to have such an effect. Not that the dreams reflected her sleep, of course, respect, personality, and camaraderie aside, Tailmon would kill her if she tried anything.

But regardless of that, the older chosen children had turned to discussion, Taichi and Yamato were once more at each others throats, or just looking for a sufficiently manly excuse to touch; the loving, friendly looks had not escaped their eyes, though interpretation could, of course, be debated. Jou, on the other hand, was _calmly_ suggesting that they head to the Otamamon kingdom in search of allies. (Peacefully as the suggestion was made, enthusiastically as Gomamon endorsed it, no one actually paid it any mind.)

Mimi, Daisuke, Ken -- they simply were not there. Takeru was still around, still listening, but he couldn't avoid the feeling that his presence was the last thing Hikari wanted, not that he could blame her… He was with Sora now, making the occasional quiet comment, but mostly content to just listen to his friends, to spend time with them in the digital world.

And Koushirou, as ever, was typing away, Iori watching over his shoulder.

"Angewomon, Ookuwamon… Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you guys need crests to reach the perfect stage?"

The computer geek opened his mouth to answer the honorable child, eyes fixated still on his Pineapple screen. "There's precedent for both, albeit somewhat odd ones," he answered plainly, still typing away in search of _something._ "You've heard of Skull Greymon… I hated doing this to him, but Ookuwamon basically operates on the same principles, with a bit of hacking thrown in."

"I'm not sure if I could do that to Armadimon…" the plainly dressed boy answered his eyes with a mix of admiration and repulsion for the warrior-chosen.

Koushirou lowered his voice, prepared to finish the thought, but this was the absolute last thing he wanted to remind Hikari of. "You're familiar with the Mugen Dramon battle, correct?"

Iori nodded, a distinct lack of tears to his face… maybe one just had to have been there. "Yes, but even still, that only brought energy, it didn't invoke new forms."

"The phenomenon of Hikari's light is an odd one. Remember when Hikari went missing in school, and the others were all talking about some dark ocean?"

The boy confirmed Koushirou's statement.

"She had given up her crest, yet when the black monolith fell, Tailmon actually evolved… It's not that much of a stretch to think her glow can bring such things, especially with light as her crest's power."

"But… if she could glow, does this mean her crest is really gone?" the former holder of curiosity wondered, finding the point quite intriguing himself… "I wonder. Anyway, I've been far more confused with V-dramon as of late, heard anything?"

"V-mon and V-dramon are quite similar forms. Given that the very existence of V-mon was legendary – dragons hide their nests well enough—this could be the standard progression."

"Impressive, and quite prodigious a concept," the vaguely spiky-haired one answered, still unused to hearing Iori come up with such insight, somewhat wishing Ken was around to help. "But it doesn't explain the change…"

"XV-mon himself first appeared under circumstances resembling a forced evolution. If, somehow, he never evolved naturally, that would make sense – but it wouldn't explain why this time, why now. Sorry, but that's all I have to go on."

"Daisuke's been fighting with an unnatural evolution this whole time?" Koushirou Izumi filed away this information in his brain, and somehow, he seemed to gain a new respect for the '02 leader. And learning this, the evolution, the past, it all seemed… so much more _interesting_, so very interesting indeed.

* * *

"You know what a Metal Garurumon is capable of, you saw even the People's Revolutionary Army just stand back and watch the digimon cross… shouldn't we at least try?"

The LDP member cast a longing, defeated look towards the Japanese flag on display, wishing certain fringe backbenchers had a better grasp of East Asian politics, then turning to address the Japanese Diet. "I admit, liberating the entire human world with the digimon would be a nice thing, but – we're **Japan.** There isn't a country in Asia that would let our troops on their soil, even as defense from a far stronger, truly malevolent foe."

"Then use auxiliaries! We provide the gates and basing, but that doesn't mean the digimon would have to liberate humanity under the red sun. Freedom to the oppressed, from China to Arabia, an Asia free of dictators…" He let his thoughts trail off dreamily, clearly idealistic, for all his nationalist campaigning, his dream seemed noble and true.

"You forget – the fact that twelve Japanese citizens saved the digital world means nothing for the Japanese government. Besides, they've dealt with enough war; the last thing we should do is drag them in to start our own…"

The backbencher nodded, though given lack the support for his positions, it didn't really matter what he did. "Still… there is potential here."

"Can we at least name one of the chosen ambassador or something?" a random voice boomed, speaking from the great halls of the Diet.

"It's unorthodox, and it'd be by far the youngest in Japanese history, whichever one of them we picked. But really, there's no better choice; this kind of goodwill you just have to capitalize on."

Hearing no objections, after a quick, near-unanimous vote on an individual exception to laws governing ambassadors, Taichi Yagami soon found an unusual request in his D-Terminal…

* * *

"Evil is everywhere, so don't savor your victory," a malevolent voice boomed from below, echoing across the net ocean, making Ken's hatred for Noriko grow stronger by the second.

"_This can't be a coincidence; she had to know of the dark whirlpool… But she already has a Chimeramon; I'm sure she's just trying to mess me up."_

"If evil is everywhere, then everywhere we'll stop it!"

"You sure about that, Daisuke-kun?"

"You put it everywhere," the leader of the younger chosen answered, smirking, with the sort of face that would lead Taichi and Yamato into furious fistfights -- like those "fights" hadn't been cover for _something._

Part of Daisuke, at this point, wished for something like the angels with arrows of hope and light, if only for an excuse to hold Ken's hand. Though of course, Wormmon would be filled with jealousy.

"Well, there's the base!" Daisuke pointed, off in the distance, to a very familiar-looking object hovering above that same whirlpool. Though this time, he finally had a nice, flying digimon, and the guy he was trying to stop last time flew alongside him. (Unfortunately, Stingmon's wings just had a way of obscuring Ken's cute, fangirl-bringing b-- wait, there was a battle at hand!) "Yoush! It's time we take down the Digimon Tsarina!"

With this level of noise, if Noriko was actually interested in blocking their entrance; she would have instantly been able to shoot them down -- but she wasn't just going to kill her predecessor like _that -- _at least not until she learned his true reasons for turning back. Given enough torture, anyone's bound to stop that crap about the importance of good; even he couldn't lie with things like "So I would like myself" forever.

And then…and then she would know. And perhaps, if not the world, she could at least gain some understanding.

The thought that Ken spoke truthfully, even if the ex-Kaiser himself was trying to pound it into her, that those _were_ his reasons; it never even crossed the young Tsarina's mind.

Then again, who has not searched long and hard for that which does not exist?

In the meantime, with none but Stingmon and V-dramon granting them any fighting ability, with no digimental of Miracles in the engine room to save them in such desperate times, Daisuke Motomiya and Ken Ichijouji snuck aboard the Tsarina's base.

* * *

"I'm tellin' ya, Mimi, he doesn't know you exist."

Mimi Tachikawa, having departed on a "diplomatic mission" to "gather support" for the Otamamon kingdom, (Everyone knew she needed the break, with Palmon dead and all… Besides, the unrest was small, and the regents were capable enough – the greatest concern was that she'd abandon them, but one can hardly stop a monarch from doing so,) frowned in response. "Hey!"

"Go over and test him, then," Sora answered, smirking.

"Yamato-kun!" Mimi spoke, shouting across the small, digital village to the yellow-haired bishounen, hearing not the slightest word of recognition. "He's just angsty like that; it's not like he'd pay attention to anyone else either…"

"You think I don't know that? We were dating last winter, remember?" Purity nodded, sadly yet knowing and happy they could find such feelings, and Love stuck out her tongue. "But during all the time we spent in the digital world together, I can't remember him speaking to you once."

"Remember back when Hikari got trapped in Factorial? We spent that whole day on the phone, he even ran back in when he realized I was still on the line!"

"That was a mistranslation! He just left the stove on, hurried to not burn down the apartment; doesn't count."

"Mistranslation?" Mimi answered, trying to make sense of what exactly Sora was saying – she couldn't, as those words just didn't. So instead, turning back to pose against a tree, she spoke. "Well, even if he's busy worrying about Noriko-chan now, and his place in the chosen… I'm sure once he turns around, he can't help but recognize my beauty!"

Yamato Ishida, after a few silent seconds, did indeed turn around, casting a glare that seemed to be aimed towards the Japanese-turned New Yorker, but really, only to see what was behind her. _"Jureimon… And here, now, a cherry tree in the middle of nowhere… It looks just like him, is this a sign?" _he thought, as Mimi couldn't help but notice, even from such distance, that the focus seemed slightly off if it was _her_ he was looking at.

"_If it's a sign, I can't put much stock in it. Taichi's face in the water – that was a sign too, if only I remembered what it stood for."_

Meanwhile, as Yamato returned to angst, as Sora and Mimi watched for his reactions, each trying to win this amusing argument – the pink-haired girl was still posed seductively against a tree. And Miyako, having only now wandered by, catching a bit of the beauty aimed Yamato's way… She simply couldn't resist.

"Mimi-oneesama! I'm so happy to see you again!" The orange-helmeted girl yelled, stretching out her arms, glomping before the holder of purity could do a thing to dodge.

Though – all in all, having been in dire need of one ever since Palmon's death, she might not have wanted to evade that hug.

"Miyako-chan!" Mimi yelled back, her reaction a mix of a hello-yell and simple post-hug shock, and then lowering her voice to a near-whisper, uncertain if she wanted her words heard, she continued. "I'm happy too; it's been so long, but at the same time…"

"Mimi-chan, I love you, but you have to realize that this was the absolute last thing Palmon wanted. She may be dead, but her desire was for your life, so the least you could do would be to live for her."

The currently pink-haired girl listened to Miyako's words, seeming touched by her newer purity, as her lips curled slowly upward into something vaguely resembling a smile. "Yeah… Come to think of it, you're right. From this day forth, I, Tachikawa Mimi," she began, posing dramatically on the nearest decent-sized rock she could find, as a certain thought came into her head. "Wait – you _love_ me, Miyako-chan?"

The purple-haired girl blushed heavily, at last taken aback. "Well, I, umm…"

At this point, Mimi Tachikawa remembered something, something regarding Miyako's head, a hug, and running from a couple of Gokimon – _"And isn't she a little too tall for her head to normally end up pressed against my chest?"_

_

* * *

_

They had made it aboard easily enough. Paildramon was powerful, after all, so once they flew in beneath the proverbial radar and took out the weakling guards, the endless metal halls of the empress's base were theirs for the walking, if not the taking.

And of course, dressed in a feminine version of Ken's old outfit, one with purple replacing the blue in its odd color-scheme, one with a more flowing, regal cape, one with glasses slightly less geeky and a smoother hairstyle – but mostly the same, Noriko learned of their presence, and moved quickly to intercept.

And as such, in a big, machine-filled room, the two chosen faced the young girl, Daisuke and Ken determined to dissuade... and prepared, if not wholly willing, to face the inevitable and slay her.

"Trying to convince me _again?_ It didn't work the first time, you didn't even have the guts to try the next… Did you finally come up with a reason why I shouldn't do this?"

"No," Ken admitted sadly, as a Kaiser-esque smirk came upon his own lips. "Well, actually one. If you free the innocent digimon and stop your evil reign, you have my promises that Paildramon won't kill you."

"You'd set your digimon partner on some innocent little girl? Do you really think you'll be able to hide from punishment in the human world after doing something like _that_? And stop what, exactly?"

"Yeah, but this is the digital world, they'll never find the body," Daisuke pointed out, as Noriko sighed in boredom.

"Stop enslaving innocent digimon," Ken began with a fury in his voice he had once reserved for Arachnemon. "And stop using the power of the dark seed to conquer the digital world!"

Noriko smirked. "Stop fighting Deathmon? Stop building an army capable of _saving_ you fools?"

Tempting as the thought was to give the order, to have Paildramon annihilate the Tsarina in a single hail of bullets – bad enough it was to _lose_ a debate to the ultimate evil, but attacking for such reasons is the mark of a maddened, desperate villain, not a heroic chosen child. "You don't have to slap black rings on them and take away their bodies!" Ken shouted back angrily, his rage in sharp contrast to the calm of his apparent successor.

"I don't, you say? And how many of these 'free' digimon have lifted a finger to defend their world?"

Ken pondered. There was the Leomon corps, of course, and he was sure there were others… but at the same time, from what he had still remembered of his own past, free digimon seldom posed any real threat to his reign. "Yes, but…" he began, his words swiftly interrupted.

"At least _I'm _not too afraid of my past. If dark rings are what it takes to save the digital world…" Noriko was lying through her teeth now, and as her lips moved with those words, it was as though she could taste the falsehood. At the same time, though – it was a believable lie, and if she really wanted to make it truth, to fulfill the destiny the digital world gave her in her darkest moments… well, it was possible, to say the least. "Some of us actually _want_ to save the digital world from your silly memories."

"What the hell?" Daisuke's voice, understanding the implication, found her statements far too absurd to be believed.

"Sora's wish, Takeru's memories, all of you, with your absurd nostalgia… It's not me who's the threat to the digital world!" she shouted, thick with anger -- a wholly false anger, of course, but it didn't show in her tone. Her voice lowering, she continued, with one calm question. "Who do you think revived Deathmon, anyway?"

"Who revived… Deathmon?" Ken asked, his face set aback in a mix of confusion, disbelief, and simple horror.

"If you guys even bothered to look up your foes, you'd realize he was sealed away centuries ago. I can't understand how people so incompetent ever received Seiryu's blessing," the young girl insulted, then stopped; criticizing Ken would not do her any good now, anyway. "And the holy beasts _were_ the only ones who could even get to where he was sent away."

"So Deathmon's a fake, your majesty," Daisuke answered, mocking, as the younger girl put a finger up in the general direction of the brave, hotheaded, oft-foolish boy's lips.

"I haven't finished. That _is_ the real Deathmon, but to release him… it would take something like a prayer, but even then, it'd have to be from the heart of someone to which the harmonious ones themselves were indebted."

"Like the chosen children? Are you saying one of us…"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. I saw it – couldn't decipher it, but I saw Takeru looking at a strange map, and the routes seemed to correspond exactly with Deathmon's location." She answered, leaving out a few choice bits of information; for instance, who actually did the deed of revival.

"What the--" While Ken could at least calmly ponder for a bit, Paildramon seemed as enraged as Daisuke was at this statement, this utter slander against one of his truest friends. "Desper--"

"Penmon, shinka! Rukamon!" The colors stayed the same, mostly, just a slightly-lightened blue – but that was the greatest similarity between the forms. The beak became a bottlenose-mouth, no great difference, but the tail became flippers, and flippers turned to fins, and the body turned from the flat, awkwardly-waddling penguin into a lithe, floating dolphin, increasing to adult-level side. "If you so much as scrape Noriko's skin, I'll neither spare nor forgive you!"

"Penmon – you… evolved?" Noriko began, hardly able to contain her shock, though doing a bit better for her marvel. Yeah, it was impressive -- and those lines held a certain coolness that would bring sparkly eyes to a normal girl her age. But the Digimon Tsarina, brutal conqueror that she was, was not exactly the sort to go fangirling over anyone; least of all what was still a weak adult-level, though her courage was unmatched by all save Taichi.

Even Paildramon had held out on the actual attack; if a digimon would evolve for this girl, could she really be _that _bad? Still, she was the Tsarina, a brutal tyrant; her digimon, too, could've been corrupted… not all partners could be as heroic as Wormmon, right?

"I wanted to for you, Ken, even when you were evil," the dragon-insect hybrid spoke, reading his partner's mind, though the voice was wholly Stingmon's.

"Yeah, but she's _letting_ her," Ken responded. "She has to have someone fast; it's not like we trapped her; she has to have some stronger digimon to fight with her, but she goes to her partner…"

Rukamon, for her part, absentmindedly pondered the oddness of the "battle"; having not even had the opportunity after her first evolution to lay so much as a fin into the one who endangered her partner. Then again, if Noriko was safe this way…

"I don't care if she's 'misguided' or thinks there's some greater good involved; look at all the villages she enslaved!" Daisuke shouted, throwing down his goggles and charging straight at the dolphin digimon, as Paildramon lost the unity of spirit that let him exist in the first place; and Daisuke himself soon felt a hard tug on his flame-jacket as Ken motioned for discussion to continue.

"It's obvious what must be done… you might not agree to it yet, but even a numbskull like that should come around in the end," Noriko spoke, pointing to Daisuke as the word "numbskull" escaped her lips.

"For the time being, Noriko, I'm willing to help you defeat Deathmon --" Ken began firmly, admitting, though it certainly felt as though his thought was incomplete, "but I will not lift a finger against Takeru-kun."

"So be it." The girl smiled at this, it was all she needed for now… he'd be sure to come around by the time Deathmon was beaten.

* * *

Medic of the chosen children, oldest, most responsible – Jou Kido sat in the Pyocomon-filled village of birds, and save Gomamon's frequent jokes…At present, he was bored out of his mind. The drama, the love triangles, the betrayals, he supposed it was fun, but he was completely failing to keep his friends from tearing each other apart.

"_You call that a hand?" _Okay, he didn't show it… he supposed he probably should, now. But Gomamon was the only reason he hadn't died of boredom entirely.

Well, that, and maybe the allergies. Oh, the allergies… yeah, it was the digital world, but couldn't the Floramon just mate normally, instead of throwing pollen in the air and up his nose? He supposed this sneezing violated every single one of Koushirou's theories, but --

Koushirou… As the name touched his lips, his former thoughts were erased. Koushirou – the one that, when all his friends were paired off, he was jokingly set up with. (He still remembered his cry of "I love Koushirou's theories," being truncated and saved by Mimi; it had only been a few years, after all.) A nice kid, a bit nerdy, yes, but his information had still saved them countless times.

And now… well, he was the only one not otherwise occupied. The circle of friends, it was more closely-knit now, sure; a circle of eleven can get closer than one of twelve. It truly did feel that way; Mimi-kun with Miyako, the deep friendship, the trips to America, she had all of those. Koushirou, Taichi, Yamato, they might have well been chosen children themselves – it might have been painful to stay in the human world so often, but they were helping, somehow. And Sora-kun, she seemed desperate, lonely, broken; and it was Takeru she had lately been clinging to.

But as he was now… He was the old-guard fan, always talking of the days when fansubs on low-quality VHS were all they had, while not bothering to open his eyes and catch the greatness around him… or perhaps the swordsman who trained for years, only to find that, while he was strong, the world was so different he didn't know which cause was deserving of his defensive blade. Or just the world-traveler came back to Earth, while finding nothing there… on second thought, that was cliché, but it wasn't really a metaphor.

Then again, if he was all of those things, Gomamon was the guy showing him tributes to otaku culture, or the loyal retainer giving him info of the outside world, or the one descending with some sort of alternate-universe device to let him take back such a foolish return.

And if he stayed forever like this, he still knew the seal would be by his side.

At this point, Gomamon, done with his fish-harem summoning, told the one about the three Ogremon and the bar. And on this one hearing, Jou opened his ears, and actually _laughed_ in response.

* * *

At the other side of the village, near a narrow, oddly-abandoned river, her firebird digimon off flying reconnaissance, the tomboy of love sadly tossed a stone across the water; her oft-torn mind and heart both filled with thoughts of the younger, golden-haired chosen.

She thought back through her memories, to Piemon, to giant handkerchiefs of death, to one terrified, ill-planned attempt at escape. And yes, to Takeru, or at least his younger self, to that truly saddened look on his face as she desperately got him to run and protect Hikari-chan, though she herself would be left behind.

"_He wanted to stay with me; he wished to fight by my side…"_

Sora continued her sorrowful recollections, something in her thoughts about missed chances, destined love, and how she was too old for the kid anyway. _"Yeah, so I fall for his brother," _another part of her brain retorted – yes, Yamato's appearance aside, she hadn't really _expected _the kid to grow up bishounen.

But still, for all that had changed… she couldn't at all say she liked all of it. Thinking of his former bluntness, how he had no difficulty saying something such as "I like you" with utter sincerity, when those words were most needed – sure, he was younger then. But even so recently as last year, with his unabashedly showing concern for Hikari or utter hatred at the Kaiser and the powers of darkness, without the slightest thought towards suppressing…

Okay, given his family history, it might've just been his bearing witness to what the exact opposite had done to Yamato. But even still, this current, angst-ball Takeru, revealing treason with unspoken words; it didn't seem right, didn't feel right, not at all.

A nice romance building at the flower shop, from a misguided effort to bring flowers to Hikari, when it was Sora he really loved… okay, that was a dream; it always would be. Of course, they needed to find a gate to even get back to any flower shops – in the digital world, her occupation was a little something called "saving the world." And yes, the digital world itself was a good enough backdrop; love could bloom here, even if she hadn't yet seen such a blossoming – she was sure something was going on.

No, that really wasn't the problem… it was Takeru, as he was, torn, sorrowful, treacherous; she still wanted him, yes, but he just wasn't --

"Sora?" a familiar voice called, ending the auburn-haired girl's sorrowful daydreams instantly, as she turned in the direction of that call.

"I'm here," she answered soundly, yet lacking in emotion, unsure just how to respond… _"Is this how love begins? But I was always more open, more natural with Birdramon – and I have to say I liked that way more."_

"Good," Takeru answered plainly, his feet tired with exhaustion from this desperate, random search… well, maybe not entirely random. There was the digital world to think about, and somewhere, locked deeply in the back of his mind, one other relevant thought: _"I want to be with her…"_

A silence passed between the two for a few moments, neither knowing particularly why they had met there, yet both wanting this encounter nonetheless. Sora's heart quickly filled with as much worry as ever, worry only doubled by her feelings – she was so overly concerned when her only connection to love was the crest bearing its name, but this was all the worse, tempered only slightly by its having nothing to do with the fate of the world.

"You seem really sad or something, you okay?" the bishounen asked, golden hair swaying beautifully from below his odd, white hat. Awaiting her answer, mind heavy with a sort of caring concern, he walked over to the girl, sitting himself down softly next to her, his legs inches from the slow-moving river-flow.

"Takeru-kun… I…" Sora paused, speaking with none of her trademark boldness, seeming less a tomboy than someone out of a shoujo manga. Continuing her sorrowful, stammering answer, she noticed Takeru pulling closer to her – a comforting sensation, but changing nothing of her wish: that adventure she still enjoyed.

After all, thiswouldn't exactly be happening in the human world. "You gave up so much for this world, didn't you?"

He shrugged. "Just Patamon, and only for a bit – but thank the holy beasts he came back," he answered jokingly, hoping it would somehow bring that long-forgotten smile.

It didn't. And quickly, desperately, yet with a touch of his own feelings driving him, he found himself pulling her closer, his arm wrapped around her back.

"_Sora, I like you…" _He had said it once, long ago, as a young boy, back when "like" could hardly be thought to mean his current feelings. And – okay, he still did, all the more, even if he never said as such, the words threatened to burst out any moment, but… to say it now, now that love was blooming, occurring, melting and breaking hearts in some twisted dodecagon; _that_ was a different matter entirely. Even though that phrase just might be what it would take, he just continued to sit, arm gently around her, hoping it could bring the slightest bit of relief.

Sora blushed at this sudden, odd closeness, his soft hand against her back, resting gently on her green shirt… Sure, she had hugged before, but victory glomps weren't exactly like this, and it wasn't the angsty "I'll miss you" sort or anything either… Close, affectionate, overt, awkward – it was enough to make her blush deeply, though she still wouldn't resist this comfort.

"Could you please stay with me?" A simple request—she needed the company; no one wanted to suffer alone; it was best to be with a caring soul…

To her slight surprise, and towards her greater contentment, hope itself seemed to smile on her.

* * *

The chosen mostly relaxing, the ominous clouds of darkness being glanced at, acknowledged, and then ignored, their guard truly let down, minds occupied with more light-hearted things… Enjoyable though this stay in the digital village was, it would be the _perfect _time to dissolve the illusion, fly through the angel portrait and kill them all.

Thankfully, unlike a certain out-of-place, illusory hotel, this particular village was not a trap. And their enemies – Noriko was _attacking_ Deathmon, an alliance of convenience and necessity established with the chosen children. Deathmon himself had not been heard from since the battle; Takeru was comforting Sora, if he even counted as truly evil – and even if he was, he wouldn't hurt the chosen. And Vamdemon, for his part, was dead, dead, actually, truly dead. Yes, the dark cloud hung over them still, the feeling of approaching doom had not dissipated, but its source was unknown; who would possibly attack?

Though this time – a nice rest was part of the adventure; they were together again, stuck in the digital world… it wasn't the crushing, boring sadness of the human world; they found this preferable, angst and all. They should've been able to relax right now, right? It's not like anything bad was happening, right?

At this point in time, a thousand innocent Agumon, the descendents of a Koromon village on Server, found themselves tragically in total disagreement with that statement.

Deathmon himself, darkest of tyrants, may indeed have been resting… but evil digimon have a strong tendency to have minions. And genocidal as the dark masters were, violent as the reprisals had been, some followers had still made it into hiding.

With the world in danger-filled chaos, they had regained a strange, inexplicable share of power; a power stolen from them when the crests were broken and evil purged from the world. It was true that Piemon had but one dead minion, and Pinnochimon was never exactly well-liked… But that didn't mean Mega Dramon and Giga Dramon wouldn't bring death from the sky, and it didn't do the slightest thing to dissuade the amphibious Hangyomon from joining in the massacre, either.

"Genocide Attack!" A missile shot from the sky, as an Agumon watched in sheer terror, noticing its approach, scenes of the upcoming explosion clear in his mind. He watched it descend, fear-frozen, not like his baby flames would do anything to stop it in the first place.

He never saw it land. Before he could, he heard a cry of "Strike Fishing!" and a harpoon flew straight through his skull. Blood spewed out of the Agumon, flying about the village, but quickly disintegrating into data with the rest of him.

The slaughter was on! Two more Hangyomon jumped out, tossing their spears as best they could, well enough to skewer about three of the peaceful dinosaurs a throw – and they made a _lot_ of throws. An orange dragon joined the grey one – digimon of such skill that, if they truly were shooting at someone, Tentomon once stated that it was very unlikely they'd still be talking about it. And they were shooting at the Agumon, attacking with such force that every possible hiding place was annihilated with the digimon. And if that wasn't enough, their attacks had such speed that those running away died too, the ground exploding from under their feet.

Deramon, the treacherous guide to Pinnochimon's mansion, watched it all. And the sight before her eyes, it filled with an uncommon emotion she supposed was anger, a horror that anyone, even Mugen Dramon's warriors, would commit such a massacre.

Sure, the Agumon couldn't do anything – not unless they all evolved at once, and the sky filled with Greymon-fire, and even then it would be hard. Sure, _they_ were helpless. She for one wasn't, and she couldn't let this happen to them.

She pondered contacting the chosen, wished she had a digivice signal, that somehow they'd find out… no, there was simply no way to contact them.

In a far-off village, Mimi noticed an odd, serpentine form in the distant sky, and heard a faint, explosive noise. She rubbed her eyes, figured she had been driven to slight hallucination by her past horrors of war, and tried to put it out of her mind. Had she done otherwise, perhaps… it was something to argue, even they might not have been strong enough.

Noriko noticed a similar flash on her telescreen, her base having adequate surveillance of absolutely enormous chunks of the digital world. She quickly switched the view, so as to ensure Daisuke and Ken never learned, and moved onward. Deathmon had to die, the world had to be saved; nothing else mattered.

In the end, Deramon fought alone.

"Royal crusher!" The white bird-plant turned around, shooting a white, explosive egg from the bush on its back. The dragons ignored that, as they had the fireballs… but when the egg-bomb hit Mega Dramon's face, he still screamed out in uncharacteristic pain.

Watching the massacre, friends murdered, ground exploding as her brother tried to run – an Agumon, by the name of Agura, took advantage of the opportunity, sneaking away, running desperately to the chosen, trying desperately to ignore the explosions behind her and the screams of everyone she knew.

"A child-level… there's absolutely no reason it should hurt you! Shrug it off and get back to fighting!" Giga Dramon yelled, as the orange dragon continued to cry out in pain – as Agura, horrified as ever, continued to run away, trying desperately to at least save herself.

The Mega Dramon nodded, trying to fight, shooting as ever, but with horrid aim… but anywhere he shot, Agumon still died. "Forget what it looks like – Deramon is no child-level."

The three Hangyomon threw their harpoons once more, as Giga Dramon let down another bomb from the sky. It was clear there was a threat, and they couldn't afford to keep massacring innocents until Deramon died, not deliberately, anyway. And so they kept shooting, as that one desperate female Agumon disappeared out of sight, watching the blue-and-green pixels flying over the horizon, hearing the final scream of the lone defender, mixed in with the screams of so many more innocents.

Once all was said and done, and she could put the fight behind her, Agura had but one thing to say to the horrified Taichi… and to Taichi's Agumon companion, to that reptile that just looked _so_ much like one of the massacred hundreds.

"Not a nightmare soldier among them, but I'm sure what was shown before me was truly evil's face."

As Noriko, Daisuke, and Ken reached the entrance of Deathmon's cave… once more failing, Yagami Taichi punched the ground in absolute, self-hating sorrow.

* * *

Author's notes: It was NOT supposed to end up this Sokeru-ish, or this blatant for anything, for that matter… I'll try to do better with the pairing-ambiguity!

And my apologies for the wait. Hope it was worth it. Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

"_It's been fun, all this time. Yeah, we felt crushed sometimes, found our sadness as well -- but at least we truly lived. And most of the time, no matter what the stakes of our battle, we found happiness. _(Either make the comma a semicolon, or put 'and' after the comma.)

_"But… at the same time, even when angsty, we were all thinking far too much of ourselves or each other. And though we did stop to consider it…_

_"Until we saw that one fleeing Agumon, I'm not sure if we ever realized just how many innocent digimon, because of us, were crying from true pain._

_Or how many loved it."

* * *

_

"Taichi-sama, Qinglongmon-sama, anyone… please help!" It was a lone voice he heard (the cries of the others not loud enough, with their small, pitiful, baby-digimon lungs) echoing across the insanely pleasant-looking digital plain – a voice of sheer, desperate terror.

"C'mon, Greymon! Let's kick some evil digimon butt!" he shouted, ordering his dinosaur digimon onward, desperately trying… these attackers, whoever they were; they _had_ to be stopped from hurting any more innocent digimon!

The gogglehead riding on Greymon's shoulders wondered just how much longer there would _be_ any innocent digimon around _anywhere_ to save, but this turned quickly towards a motivation for courage, and enthusiastically he pointed a finger to the distance, pledging the safety of the crying, wounded fluff-ball.

"Just hold on!" Taichi shouted – he would've added the species name, but he didn't know it; there were just **so many** species of small fluffy digimon. From off in the distance, a Motimon looked very much like a Tokomon or Pagumon, and even his partner's own form, Koromon, was rather hard to distinguish.

Whatever it was he'd been pulverizing into data, the virus-type saw the helmeted tyrannosaur's approach, and decided to slay the wounded, defenseless baby-strength digimon later. The brown-haired leader felt his hand slipping from the tyrannosaur's back as the two flung themselves into battle, slipping, then falling, and at last watching helplessly, wishing with all his heart for his still-charging digimon to win.

He held up his digivice. Metal Greymon wouldn't come – Qinglongmon's digi-core seemed just a bit useless right now. The pink fluffball (on closer inspection, it was very much a Motimon, actual arms and all) cried out in pain – a pain hardly undone, even if his tormenter was attacking another. Taichi fell to the ground, kept his eyes open, and watched the fireball hit the streams of blood and darkness…

The fireball was overpowered; the dinosaur tried to clutch his leg in pain, but the arms wouldn't reach – so he merely screamed. The Vamdemon turned, let his cape back, and unleashed a stream of bats, ripping the once-defended Motimon apart brutally – and as he was, Taichi noticed a lone Agumon, off in the distance, running to escape.

And in sympathy, in failure, he began a horrified, defeated cry, only to hear his own Agumon – Agumon, as in the child-level, and not the slightest-bit wounded, shout.

"Taichi's gone through enough lately without you messing with his dreams! Baby Flame!"

The brown-haired boy rubbed his barely-opened eyes, gaze following the fireball as it exploded against the odd-looking creature, which… honestly, it looked like the ghost of a miniature elephant. The tapir shrugged it off, counting himself lucky it had hit his silver-armored trunk, and angrily shot a blank sphere outlined in purple writing, sending it slowly, dreamily towards the reptile.

"Agumon… what's going on?" Taichi asked lazily, still half-asleep, gazing upon the **dark **digital night, not noticing the Bakumon's manipulating and stealing his dreams.

"Taichi, I heard enough of your nightmare," he said fiercely, glaring at the ethereal digimon with his sharp green eyes, letting loose another fireball. "This creep gave you that terrible sleep just to --"

The human blinked once, then twice, peering at the singed digimon's body. "There's no evil ring."

Agumon set out yet another fireball, and the attacker, burnt and discovered, fled the bipedal lizard's flame-bombardment, quickly floating into the distance, thanking the harmonious ones Taichi's digimon hadn't chased after. "But Bakumon are good digimon! You must've missed it, Taichi."

"Did you see it, then?"

"No."

"Was there anywhere it could've been hidden?" Taichi was reasoning now, intelligent, actually seeming just a bit _awake_.

Agumon shook his oversized head slightly, remembering its body shape – the rings on its legs were golden, and black would've stood out; fur just didn't work to hide the devices, the cloud of haze behind it faded far too often. On the other hand, perhaps… it just didn't make sense otherwise.

"The trunk. It could be under the armor there; I think it flips up."

"Doesn't look like it… Hey, did any of the dark seed kids have a Petit Meramon?"

The yellow-scaled digimon nodded.

Taichi pulled himself out of his "bed," pushing his hand against the ground to get up. "I think this just got four times worse."

As a species, Agumon, like most child-level digimon, are not prone to cursing. But with realizations like this, even he is prone to doing so, and he quickly responded with an "Oh, crap."

Taichi gazed out at the dark birdseed fields of the Pyocomon village, then beyond, into the distant night, thinking of how long he had _neglected_ his responsibility, clearly shaken by both Agura's tale and his own nightmare – at least his wasn't _real_.

And then, the leader's courage returning, he stood up, spiky hair blown back in the wind, speaking calmly and letting the words flow out.

"Agumon, it's time we do what we were chosen for."

* * *

Andromon, Meramon, Kentarumon, Yukidarumon, Ogremon, and Unimon -- their names, as the survivors, still rung through the chronicles of that long-ago digital struggle. But their lives continued, though in those days since the digital memorial, as war enveloped their world, things had certainly changed.

Well, not for all of them. Elecmon was still the same – more deaths meant more reincarnated babies to take care of, he was more exhausted than normal, even if he had dragged in a couple assistants – but mostly, business as usual. But with none of the others living in such an isolated, _safe_ location, (Dark masters and Devimon aside,) he was the only one.

Meramon, for instance, had not enjoyed the war. Not at all – his feet were sore, just being **near** Yukidarumon drew his body temperature down to dangerous levels, and the way the Dark Masters had reshaped the digital world left no room for volcanoes, not even his beloved Miharashi. So, he personally had felt little nostalgia, not even bothering to venture down for the reunion, and simply stood guard until _they _came.

He had fought heroically, learned how to burn off Noriko's rings with ease, decimated the Tsarina's army, and even seemed on the verge of winning, once or twice. But on that second time, just as victory seemed at hand, an evil ring caught him in the back and the battle swiftly turned to a massacre. And like so much of the digital world, Miharashi Mountain had been overrun; a tall, black spire now marked its summit.

The fire-man digimon now ran patrols, seeking out the ones he had once ordered to hide, and killing any who dared resist the empress's rule. Once again, he had fallen to the latest turn-digimon-evil device, and he served Noriko now, and the fact that she was sending most of her digimon out after Deathmon didn't mean she wouldn't keep up her brutal conquering on the side.

The new target was a domed, industrial city of machine digimon – the one Andromon called home. And under these circumstances, the machine digimon rallying the resistance to the controlled invader… For the first time since Spiral Mountain, since they did their part to stop the Dark Masters, for the first time in four years… Andromon and Meramon stood face to face once again.

And then, after a possessed, red-eyed glare, as a dry, mechanical voice intoned grave words of regret and determination, a blazing fireball hurled across the metal city.

From the other side, from the robot's spinning drill-arm, a blade of electricity spiraled right towards the flame.

* * *

"I don't know, Taichi… It's a good enough idea, but where do we even find those evil digimon? They haven't exactly been broadcasting battle plans…" Sora responded, a question raised so easily by her leader's new, determined plan. But much as she tried to retort, she was still concerned for two worlds and one conscience, hiding her true reasons for opposition as transparently as she ever had.

This was her wish, after all. And if it were to come true, if she were to enjoy it…

The Yagami boy realized her attempt, saw through her flimsy shield – but it was a reasonable question; Yamato and Jou seemed just as desirous of an answer.

And honestly, he hadn't thought of one.

"We'll know when we're close. The chill of evil follows wherever they go," Gabumon said, clutching his wolf-pelt from the mention of that particular feeling – he had a distinct feeling Yamato wouldn't appreciate his clinging, at least not in public.

"But which way do we even look?" Tailmon asked, fear overwhelming her voice… it wasn't Vamdemon, but Deathmon seemed even scarier.

"Chosen, digimon, we need some courage here!" Taichi shouted, but the bravery proved distant as ever, as he quieted his voice to a desperate, sorrowful tone. "For Palmon's sake, for those innocent Agumon, for Leomon's followers… Even for Wizarmon, Piccolomon, don't any of you want to make their deaths have meant something?"

Sora nodded – after all, his logic was excellent; normally it would've proved persuasive – but she just wasn't convinced yet.

"Besides, we have our digivices; I'm sure there's someone we can get to on the outside! We'll track them, somehow!"

"That's not all though, is it, Sora?" Piyomon chirped, memories of hiding and Pico Devimon flooding back. "Don't worry so much. You're among friends."

"I wished for this," the auburn-haired girl spoke, her hand on her face, wiping desperately at her tears. Her thoughts had moved back once more to the last time she truly hid something from the chosen – the shadows of past adventures were still here, even now, even as she began her depressed explanation.

"If it wasn't for me… if it wasn't for me, they'd still be alive."

Their goggle-headed leader shrugged dismissively, speaking his response. "We'll hold your trial later. Right now, we have a digital world to save!"

Sora Takenouchi pulled herself sadly to her feet. "Hold on, I'm coming. After all -- the digimon need us."

The chosen children dashed off to fight evil, Koushirou glanced at his laptop, reminded them which particular direction said evil was actually in, and… it may have taken four years and a week, the ones they had met had certainly changed them.

At last, after so long, the chosen children were back to doing what they did best, the only thing that could ever bring them true happiness: protecting both worlds.

And looking at the sheer determination in all their eyes, regardless of whether it'd be Deathmon, Noriko, or even Vamdemon's latest reincarnation they fought… those who threatened their digital world wouldn't stand a chance.

* * *

Twelve chosen children, one dark seed child, one battle for the fate of the digital world, an adventure that they all hoped would never end, yet a battle that seemed so final, non-angsty chosen children and all.

Sure, despite Ken and Daisuke's attempts, even after all that had happened, convincing Noriko to turn good seemed about as likely as Yamato walking on Mars or Miyako ending up a housewife. But they could convince her or finish her afterward – for now, she'd fight on their side anyway.

Sure, whoever sent Bakumon was still out there… sure, there were human/digimon issues, things being made all the more prevalent while an ambassadorial commission to Taichi Yagami sat unnoticed in his inbox. And sure, the evils of the Dark Ocean seemed more and more interested in that one oft-glowing girl, Yagami Hikari…

But that didn't change the feeling that the wish, at least, would end – that this time around, either Deathmon or the chosen children wouldn't walk away alive.

* * *

Ogremon hacked away at the brush, trying to walk through the forest, attempting to stand tall with the pride he was _supposed_ to have as an Ogremon!

It wasn't easy. The Airdramon still overflew the forest, tossing dark rings whenever they saw a target. He wouldn't hide from _them_, mind you, but it was just common sense to go somewhere he might be harder to spot from the air.

Yes, common sense. Nothing at all cowardly, just like how he wasn't at all good when fighting Metal Etemon… Right, as if. He just wasn't even convincing himself anymore.

"Face it; I've become a wimp -- a goody-goody wimp. Stupid chosen, protecting me, healing me…" The words sounded foolish even in his head, and his thoughts turned to Mimi and Leomon… so of course, he began to cry.

The viral digimon put his bone-club up towards his eye, wiping away the tears. It hurt, yes – but that was why he did it, so that crying would hurt, so that he could learn not to let a single tear fall. After all, even if Ogremon was caught, it was far more dignified for him to smack himself in the face with his own club than to cry.

Leomon was dead now, though. He supposed that if Leomon was still alive, he'd probably end up with a dark ring, (The black gears did him in twice and all) so fighting for good wouldn't violate his rivalry, or was it his purpose? Besides, better a warrior than a wimp, and that little girl calling herself empress _really_ got on his nerves.

On the other hand… evil. He _was_ a virus-type, even if he had grown softer; and he had to admit he had. After all, the ogre was happily remembering being glomped by Mimi eight days ago, when by all rights he should've been fantasizing about clubbing a bunch of Koromon to death.

The green digimon noticed Kentarumon on a distant, leafy hilltop. If there were ever a time to approach him, now was it, and maybe he needed to talk to some elderly centaur, reminiscing of the good old days.

But that just wasn't his style. Too girly, too _good_ -- fine on the first of August, maybe, but **only** then, and even on that day he couldn't afford getting too emotional, lest the others –

A few spinning needles whizzed by his neck, and Ogremon turned from his thoughts -- these Airdramon were _really_ starting to bug him. And for that reason, he pumped his arm forward, letting forth a purple, vaguely head-shaped burst of energy.

"Supreme king fist!"

Kentarumon looked down towards the newly-formed battle, listening to the soft chirp of the many distant Piyomon, and at last smiled.

The holders of the digivice had come, the prophecy was now fulfilled, the world seemed safe, or at least with safety coming -- but the kind of safety he could smile at and still call interesting. Content in this knowledge, he turned his back to the flying purple ogre-head and spinning, poison-tipped needles, and trotted away into the leafy horizon.

For Ogremon and the growing swarm of darkness-controlled Airdramon, on the other hand… the battle continued, painful and exciting as ever.

* * *

A peaceful kingdom in the midst of warfare, rebuilding, neutral, lucky enough to have a chosen child as princess. The Otamamon and Gekomon had seemed to hold a bit more contentment, slight aspects of admiration – the rebuilding was hard, but as Mimi held her royal scepter and looked out at her new realm, she didn't see a single bit of boredom among them, they all seemed so excited, so alive…

But why? She couldn't herself understand; there was something the bearer of purity had missed, something that seemed so _obvious_, yet with her thoughts always managing to pull away from this truth.

With Palmon gone, she herself had given up on war yet again; even given how her own desires had become for that one moment on the day of digital memories… and yet, save a few interludes and new challenges, she too had returned to that same mix of boredom and sorrow shared by her closest friends.

And she couldn't, for the life of her, determine out how to avoid it, though she had managed to have a bit of fun with her new "subjects." Face it, being a monarch was _weird._

But this time around, she wouldn't abuse her power. The Otamamon and Gekomon – they had selected her, called for her, and so much of what they were going through in the first place was only the fault of her incompetence in battle.

For them, she would do her duty.

She noticed a slight crackling in her hands, still cradling the one she always seemed to be with, her closest friend – the one who died at the hand of the enemy she refused to fight. If she had been stronger…

Leomon's death was what snapped her out of it, last time. But even without Palmon -- she would not waver, not throw away the lives of her followers for revenge. Speaking of followers – it was at this point in time that a reverent Gekomon stumbled into her royal quarters, apologizing profusely for falling through the door, then noticing his queen's decisively un-royal temperament, weakness, and tears.

"Princess?"

The pink-haired girl shook her head. "Didn't I tell you to call me Mimi?"

"Back when you had stopped being a princess," the green frog answered reflexively. But as soon as he heard the words slip out, he cowered, fearful for his head, and took to one knee.

"Mimi, please forgive me for my offense! My falling into your royal quarters was bad enough; I beg you, do not inflict upon me your wrath for that flippant, foolish remark!"

She smiled distantly, still deep in thought, remembering once again how to abuse that power. "I forgive you, but I want your help with something, if you're willing to assist me."

The Gekomon nodded slowly, confused as to why she was _asking_, when it was so much simpler to just give the order.

"And you should really stop being so deferential, or don't you remember who gave me this position in the first place?"

The musical digimon bowed reflexively, then stood up before her, facing her as nearly to equal as one could manage with such a small size. "So, then, what's your request?"

"That we find a way to build a new digital world – and create happiness in peace."

"_And I can only hope he has a way, after all, no one else does…"_ Mimi thought, a fateful, pleasant feeling suddenly rushing over her. As it came, she heard a slight sound from behind her, in the direction of that royal incubator; the Otamamon had just insisted on building her one for the fallen royal digital partner, despite her insistence they focus on fortifications and rebuilding their homes.

Hearing it, she turned back towards the egg, and noticed a slight crack. And for the first time this whole adventure, she could truly smile.

* * *

Unimon soared gracefully above File Island, black wings almost _shining_ majestically in the sky. The digimon let the currents carry him, spreading his wings wide, mouth a dignified shut as ever, zooming over the terrain below. From Infinity, the mountain with that gentle spring and a hollowed-out cave he had so often called home, flying east towards the forest, peering away from the chaos, wishing Ogremon would just hold onto the gauntlet for once his life.

It didn't matter; he was above that. He continued to soar, briefly spotting a city of metal – but why the heck were Andromon and Meramon _fighting?_ All in all, with such an odd turn of events, the unicorn couldn't help but wonder if he needed come down from the infinite mountain more often.

The winds turned colder as he flew through the canyon, winds turning suddenly cold and sharp, Unimon flapping just to stay in the air. And before long, at the isle's edge, amidst the glaciers, his destination was finally in sight.

So with that, he flew downwards, hooves landing softly on the frozen lake, helmet-covered gaze cast at the snow-white creature.

"Unimon! What brings a digimon like you somewhere this cold?"

The dark-winged unicorn glared a bright red at the snowman-bear, a look that Yukidarumon could only surmise meant something along the lines of "Idiot, don't you _know_?" Admittedly, it was difficult to read facial expressions through a visor, and in somewhere so icy he wouldn't dare motion with his hooves, but the large, white digimon still got the message.

"Please forgive me." The vaccine-type of the frozen lands bowed his head apologetically, ah, how he knew. Another battle, he'd charge in excitedly, but as Angemon or Taichi would give dramatic speeches to the enemy about saving the digital world, he wouldn't be able to think of anything but to yell out his own name.

"Are you coming?" The unicorn gestured off to the distance, pointing to what he could only surmise to be Deathmon's lair, trying to contain his own excitement. His aloofness had become almost characteristic, but there was something just plain _fun _about flying in at the last minute, charging along with the digital army, shooting a ball of blue light for the sake of the world.

And yeah, he did want to have that feeling again, much as he tried to contain his excitement – Yukidarumon saw through it, of course, the wings were shaking as if they just wanted to take-off and fly high, charge as the aerial cavalry.

The snowbear remained silent for a moment, pondering that very question. But it wasn't much of a question, yeah, he _could_ hide all he liked -- but there was still just nothing to do in Freezeland.

Besides… all in all, he supposed it might even be fun.

* * *

The main group of chosen children continued their journey to Deathmon's lair, at once fearful and confident, yet still grim, emotions jumbling about as their approach neared its end.

"This isn't the final battle," Miyako said, plainly, with the sort of bizarre certainty that Hikari held as the trains departed, that they'd see one another again.

"What do you mean?" Iori asked, innocently unaware of the depths of depravity within Miyako's fangirl soul.

The purple-haired girl smirked. "There's still the battlefield of love. And in a world where Taichi and Yamato can spend four years fighting over who gets to be on top--" The two older boys glared daggers at Miyako, who instantly fell silent.

The "heroes" traveled on some more, Taichi walking excitedly, Koushirou navigating by laptop, Takeru and Sora moving at a slow, weak pace, together in the back. And Hikari had slowed down for a bit, glowed white, and turned – she could understand all she liked, but this time they _would_ save the digital world. And there was absolutely no point in doing that if a traitor (close friend, total bishounen, but still a traitor) could just restore evil to both worlds again.

The light couldn't afford to shy away from hope any longer, even if the end result _would_ be Angemon and Angewomon ordered into brutal combat; she could only hope her digimon would forgive her. Any more treachery like this, and humans and digimon could never live together in peace… and even if he had just dreamed of an adventure, even if Takeru would fight on her side, it meant he'd find happiness.

After reviving Deathmon, for all that was right in the world… yeah, she'd be threatening her best friend of four years to ensure his rightful sorrow. If the bearer of light were as weepy as she was even last month, she'd be crying now.

But this wasn't last month; the third adventure indeed changed things too. Hikari Yagami turned around, generating a ball of light in her hand. "Takeru, please leave this battle to us. One who serves the darkness now… there's really no point in you joining in."

"Hikari-chan…" Takeru began, heart already filled with sorrow. "I don't deserve to, and this was what I wanted in the first place – but at the same time, I wouldn't miss this for both worlds." Closing and arching his eyes in a light-hearted, carefree smile, he spoke: "And if you guys will still accept me, I'll fight on your side."

"Takeru…" she began in response, torn between speaking something along the lines of "Takeru, of course we'll accept you! You mean so much to me, to all of us," or just responding with a sad, bitter, "regardless of that, I'll never forgive you." After speaking an awkward bit of gibberish that not even her best friend and "destined" partner could make out, Hikari finally settled on _something. _

"Forgive me for this, but I can't trust that, Takeru-kun… and I must save the digital world. Tailmon?"

Oddly enough, even granted where loyalties lay and the human-digimon bonds, it was Angemon who stopped the feline, as Hikari's light shone brighter still.

"Angemon, why do you protect him, even after he gave that map to Noriko and unleashed death on this world?"

Most of the other chosen had passed off to the distance by now, unnoticing – well, they'd realize soon enough. Besides, they had D-terminals, they had wings, and it wasn't like whoever emerged from the conflict would get lost and not be able to link up with the others.

Most. Sora had been in back with Takeru, stopped when they did, searching for words to speak in the bearer of hope's favor, battling down the crushing guilt of her own wish. And with her partner wanting Takeru protected, Birdramon was ready to block Angewomon's attack, if all else failed.

"Because…" Angemon began, trailing off, like so many others searching for just the right words to avoid such a needless combat.

It was Sora who opened her mouth. "Even considering this, it's because he's one of us. Let's put past our differences--"

"The same way Takeru wanted this to go, to switch sides, engineer evil and fight for good once again, hope for a bit of happiness? And what's to say he won't just betray you to keep the battle going, unwilling to let it all end?" She paused for a moment, letting the unbeatable tears flow from her eyes. "Innocent digimon are not our playthings!"

"Hikari… I never said they were."

_Do you really think the digimon were any less bored?_

"Then why… why could you do this to them? How could you bring back Deathmon, how could you just let so many get hurt!" She asked this question crying, launching an angry, painful burst of light at her love, her enemy, even as her glowing tears fell down her smooth hair.

"Stop it, Hikari-chan. I was the one who…" Sora began to retort, trailing off, too ashamed to exactly finish. "Taichi was right, let's deal with this after the battle… I know we don't deserve to fight, but can you guys even win without us?"

"We'll find a way!"

She shook her head, holding back her own tears. "There are so many times I wished that were true."

"But we can evolve, can't we? Taichi's courage, Daisuke and Ken's closeness, I've heard even Noriko's switched sides…" Sora paused at this, slightly unconvinced, emotions mixed as ever. After all, if they _could_ win without her, it would only mean that once again she'd be missing out.

"You sure? Someone like Deathmon, we usually need all the help we can get," Takeru spoke, feeling close enough to Sora right now that he thought Angemon and Birdramon could jogress right then and there.

"I'd love to have your help, Takeru-kun… but I'm sure I'll only find your betrayal."

"Then take the risk," Patamon advised helpfully, the seriousness tempered by his simply adorable voice. "Keep your eye on him, and worse comes to worse, just fight him there."

Grateful she could at least go just a bit longer before they'd have to fight, the girl silently acceded to the batpig's request.

* * *

It had come at last. 

Deathmon stood complacently in his lair, awed by the multitudes of opponents coming his way. The chosen children and their digimon were one thing – Noriko and her evil-ringed army, Unimon, Yukidarumon, even Digitamamon, carried by a wounded, bloody and poisoned Ogremon…

The battle was _big._ And the ghoul couldn't help but noticed that he was cornered, and his foes were way too determined to run.

He tossed his eye lightly in his hand, summer's end approaching, the fate of two worlds at stake, then wound up his arm and hurled. "Explosion eye!"

The golden, shining orb, err, bomb, flew with great speed through the mass of attackers, smashing through the legendary goggles of leadership and hitting Daisuke right in the skull. Moving as quickly as he could manage, Imperialdramon, in his fighter mode, ran swiftly to his half-partner, quickly grabbing the explosive as it bounced off the second leader's forehead.

And then it detonated, a huge blast right in the ultimate-level's clawed hand. For all the Gundam-looking digimon's power, even he could not contain such a simply _huge _blast – and as soon as it went off, though he was only blown back and the others unharmed, the fused digimon's entire arm had been utterly annihilated.

"Daisuke's worth protecting," he muttered to himself in his mixed voice, trying to ignore the sheer pain – at least he didn't need an arm for _this_ attack. "Positron laser!"

A blue beam of antimatter flew forth, and with that as a signal, with the numerous conflicting reasons they all had for wanting to kill Deathmon driving them on…

"Meteor Wing!" Conscience or no conscience, she wouldn't miss this for both worlds.

"Holy shot!" The same as before, but slightly earlier – Unimon wasn't about to back down; this was the one time his majestic, haughty life _wasn't_ boring as hell. He could only wish he had made his memories sooner, both times.

"Shaking pulse!" Rukamon's loyalty had never faded – and this was Noriko's order.

"Heaven's knuckle!" Sure, this was what he had wished for… he was torn as ever now, but he had to get over it. Somehow. Even though, if they actually won, if it ended… How could he avoid just returning to the boredom of old?

"Holy arrow!" Angemon and Angewomon smiled nervously at each other; Takeru and Hikari may never become an item, but that didn't mean their own love couldn't flourish. Besides, Birdramon just wasn't right for him, nor Aquilamon or V-dramon for her.

"Supreme k--" Ogremon began, raising his wounded fist, trying to summon up the burst of energy needed to attack, over Jou's vehement protest. But he just plain didn't have the energy after that fight, and it's hard for one to battle with poison rushing through one's bloodstream. The ogre glared at the empress, then closed his eyes in fatigue – he wasn't dead, but he wouldn't be able to do anymore like this either.

"Harpoon Vulcan!" It seemed so much like the last time they had fought, when Hikari had led them into foolish combat, when he just got blown up and missed the rest of it – Unimon and them being all together, even with Noriko, hadn't made him any less worrisome. This wasn't safe. It was, on the other hand, totally worth the danger.

"Mega flame!" Compared to Noriko's, to Takeru's, to Koushirou's, to Daisuke and Ken's, even to his younger sister's, Taichi's digimon's attack was pitiful.

But Deathmon had to be stopped – and for what it was worth, it looked like he had infected all the others with his courage.

"Fox Fire!" Yamato's angst had not subsided, not in the slightest. But the moment Gabumon started bugging him about it; he was just as certain he'd realize he was just being stupid again.

"Absolute Zero Punch!" Yukidarumon pounded the ground with his snowball-like fist, a burst of ice headed for the enemy. At least being in the midst of it all was exciting, his own attacks joining into the swarm of energy.

"Destructive impulse!" For this one battle, Ookuwamon's actual obedience was enough to be curious about. If they won, of course, Koushirou would probably find himself a month's worth of entertainment just analyzing this fight.

"Blast laser!" Miyako pointed her finger outward, excitedly watching from his feathers as her digimon attacked, as she let out one more happy cry of "Perfecto!" for good measure.

"Nightmare syndrome!" Regaining his bearing after Ogremon collapsed before he could launch their planned throw, the egg digimon let out a small portion of the darkness deep within his body. But dark as his soul _looked_, Purity had changed him… if only Mimi could have been here, too.

"Tail hammer!" Iori glanced at Miyako, at Daisuke, even at Ken – the former Kaiser really had redeemed himself. He cast a long look at Noriko, equal parts of contempt and happiness, and then turned as his digimon struck Deathmon.

Yeah, this was his adventure, too. Which group of chosen they were, 01 or 02, that didn't matter – the adventure belonged to all of them.

* * *

The attacks rushed towards Deathmon, combining along the way into a prismatic, many-colored swirl of sheer energy – an attack of fourteen so vast even he didn't have the quickness to dodge them all.

He would've tried, were there any point. But if he were to avoid this attack, a barrage seeming as though even Metal Etemon's armor lacked the strength to block it, there was only one option – to counter.

"Death arrow!" A small burst of darkness pierced the center of the strike, cutting a path right through Birdramon's meteor wing. As the chosen watched in horror, the one-eyed demon followed the arrow's path with amazing speed, abandoning his lair to carry on the fight.

Carry on the fight. He was _not_ about to run away, even if the cave itself collapsed from the force of the digital swarm.

And as though to prove it to the chosen, he opened his mouth and launched his attack, shrouding all that was visible within the purest of nights. "Black death cloud!"

Hikari glowed desperately, piercing Deathmon's darkness, but only for herself – a lone light may have shone brightly, but it barely even reached her friends. As if drawn to her light it, a tentacle cracked through the ground between her feet, slinking up towards her as the girl stumbled and fell back in terror.

Miyako charged at that moment, keeping her promise, ordering Aquilamon on… Red eye-lasers shot towards the tentacle, the eagle zooming to catch and protect Hikari…

Another tentacle burst from the ground, gripping her left leg, as Angewomon shot a determined, protective arrow, piercing Dagomon's limb, as once more, Angewomon's light scared off the eldritch creature – as Deathmon's own black arrow struck her wings.

Hikari smiled happily at her protector, once more unafraid to be the light.

"Deathmon, you've gone too far. Though I would gladly sacrifice myself, if it would appease your murderous dreams, I can not allow you to hurt any more of my friends."

As the wounded Angewomon plunged to the blackened ground; Hikari ran quickly to catch her, slipping on Yukidarumon's earlier attack, sliding uncontrollably, and somehow ending up blushing, having caught her beautiful eight-winged angel-digimon partner in her arms. As Miyako and Daisuke looked on with envy, but a determined one, knowing this rivalry could continue on – as Hikari glared at the ghoulish nightmare soldier, righteous fury in her eyes.

* * *

As Garurumon battled with his comrades against Deathmon's crushing attacks, Ishida Yamato once more found himself wondering about friendship, love, and the boundary between the two – and which side his relationship with Taichi fell on.

It didn't help that what he had ever felt for Sora wasn't nearly this strong, or those glances he exchanged with his "best friend" often seemed so purely romantic… Or how Garurumon nuzzled War Greymon like that, healing, restoring, just before a different final battle – was that mere friendship?

Keeping himself focused on the battle, trying to avoid what made him so often teasingly called emo, he thought once more of the bonds between all the chosen, the memories they had shared. If he could be with them again, just hang out like they had the past few days… maybe this was friendship. And it seemed to bring even more happiness than love could. This time, he couldn't just let his friends drift apart!

Or maybe it was something else entirely, something that, even as he moved Garurumon into position to selflessly, foolishly defend Koushirou, he still didn't understand.

"Garurumon, chou shinka! Were Garurumon!" The blond-haired bishounen didn't understand how that happened either – but he had Koushirou, so he'd figure it out.

And he had Taichi, and Sora, Takeru, Jou, Mimi, even Hikari and Daisuke – all while wishing he could get to know Miyako and Iori better. Compared to friendship like this – what could love possibly be? Besides, it'd be between two of them, Taichi, Sora, himself, one would be on the outside.

At least they had the two crests, both Garurumon and Birdramon to help out, and an excuse for Sora to get to the digital world.

"Fine, I admit it. Taichi, you're an excellent leader."

The gogglehead grinned happily, even as Were Garurumon blocked Greymon's attacks, Yamato so sorely tempted to nuzzle the other boy's face the same way his digimon partner once had to War Greymon's.

And he had an unparalleled friendship -- or was what he had with Taichi love? But he could think about that later – with the clarity of an understanding soul, he had a great adventure to continue, and an amazing world to save.

* * *

For as long as he could remember, Koushirou Izumi had always been attached to one computer or another; even in the digital world, he spent so much time on File Island just looking for a battery. And here he was, typing as quickly as ever, half-distracted even as Tentomon's newest form fought desperately against the latest incarnation of darkness.

Not that he was being useless, of course. As he had to explain so often to Taichi, he was analyzing, not gaming. These skills were useful in a _digital _world – Ookuwamon's presence on the battlefield alone demonstrated that much, even if his latest strategies were failing as badly as ever.

Ookuwamon… Yes, it was absolutely necessary to have a perfection-level digimon in this particular battle. Yes, rationally speaking, this was for the greater good, the suffering of one pained, hacked digimon against the suffering of millions. But still – didn't he even have it in him for Tentomon to evolve normally, the same way Agumon or Gabumon could?

"_Tentomon, I love you!"_ And the computer geek liked to think that when he dropped his laptop so long ago, it had meant something. But now he could only think of Vademon's universe and Pabumon's tears, of Tentomon screaming in pain as he first evolved… No matter how happily he joked with him, how could he call treating the insect this way love?

Even if he was the only thing that let him just let go of his computer, finding something more excited, someone he just wanted to hug goodbye amidst professions of undying love… still, that was love, not curiosity; he couldn't expect any miracles.

But it was one thing to give up love for the sake of the world – something heroic, something self-sacrificing, though it wasn't like Koushirou ever went for that kind of thing. To never show it, to manipulate Tentomon's feelings, do anything to him as long as it'd make him stronger; that was just plain cruel, no matter how necessary.

He wasn't the sentimental sort, of course; Tentomon just had that effect on him. The spiky-haired computer nerd typed in a few bits of code on his PIbook, not even the slightest bit curious – at times like this, a hacker needed to know what he was doing. After all, one wrong move in most hacks could crash the server – and while he had an intellectual curiosity about what would happen to a human in the digital world if the world itself crashed, he had a decent hypothesis that the ultimate result was death.

A stream of '1's and '0's burst from the heavily armored, silver stag beetle, carrying the armor and scissor-arms itself with it, the digimon shrinking and color-changing back to Kabuterimon form.

"Koushirou-han, I can't protect you adequately as Kabuterimon," the purple beetle protested, standing defensively in front of the chosen child, leg but an inch from the short, nerdy boy's face – close enough he could reach out and glomp it. "Why did you reverse the evolution?"

He was tempted, so sorely tempted – ah, but his digimon, his love deserved an answer. And besides, small though he was, anything that could come close to making the digimon lose balance would be fatal, even if Deathmon's attacks had been mostly deflected as of yet. (Or was it just that he couldn't see any better than they could in this darkness?)

"I – I realized something. You appeared to be in pain, and it had only then occurred that I couldn't stand the thought of hurting you any further… Kabuterimon, I still love you."

"I love you too, Koushirou-han." The giant beetle answered, looking skyward at the approaching eye-bomb. "That's why – please enable me to protect you!"

"Kabuterimon…" Koushirou began, entering a few desperate lines of code, then tearfully watching as his digimon once again – wait, _that_ was strange.

Must've been a typo. But it was a typo with excellent results – he'd have to look this up a bit later.

"You don't hav – please d – I'm honored," Koushirou stammered, tears in his eyes as the gigantic red beetle flew up towards the darkness. But still, that laptop was of use, there was tactical help he could still give – for his own protection, for his digimon's wish.

"Atlur Kabuterimon, Deathmon's attacking from above and to your right at a thirty-five degree angle. Your shell should be able to endure the attack, but if he hits anywhere else…" Koushirou paused, crying at the thought, his digimon turning defensively, trying to ensure it would never come true. "Just remember, our love will never get anywhere if you just leave me again and disintegrate!"

"Koushirou-han, we'll see the future together, I'll make sure of it. Horn Buster!"

* * *

"_Hope… is it hope I've been missing, all this time? I gave up the crest power -- for the digital world, for the sake of all those innocent digimon."_ He wondered about that decision, wondered if continuing evil might have made him not revive Deathmon, or if it perhaps upset the balance of light and darkness too much – and Oikawa, Ken, so many suffered when the digital pendulum swung back the other way.

Still, he trusted Gennai, the old man had been sent by Qinglongmon – and it wasn't the bearer of hope's place to question the harmonious ones.

_And it was worth doing. But if I really did lose that crest, if I am truly unable to hope…" _Takeru continued, smiling weakly, glancing up at the angel's wings as his digimon fought on, "_how come Patamon's still able to evolve?"_

Something was going on here, something seriously weird – even from the start, Patamon shouldn't have been able to evolve. Were Garurumon, Ookuwamon, Angewomon, Hikari's light in the dark ocean – not one of those things made sense; their digimon shouldn't even have been able to reach adult level.

They had given up their crests, hadn't they? It wasn't like Gennai was about to double-cross them, or like the holy beasts had used these powers anyway. But – the existence of the dark whirlpool, shouldn't he have seen it from the start?

No – the whirlpool was a seal; even the Bakemon needed evil rings, back then. As he ducked beneath the latest darkness attack, he glared into the distance at Deathmon – thinking could come later, so could his angst. Taichi was absolutely right; this digimon had to be stopped!

Besides, this was what he dreamed of, after all that had happened… in a way, it'd be even _more_ horrible for him not to at least enjoy the adventure on which so much had been sacrificed.

"Heaven's Knuckle!" Angemon was still fighting hard, at least. And it was times like this that Takeru wished he could do more to help, even if he _was_ being the power source – and with all the weird stuff going on, he wasn't even sure of _that._ Still, at least he could cheer him on.

"Go Angemon! Let's show this creep the power of those who want to protect the digital world!" he shouted, trying to hold back tears; the hypocrisy alone was too much.

"Spiral Sword!"

"Absolute Zero Punch!"

"Aerial Attack!"

Takeru glanced mournfully in the direction of the attacks, trying to at least see the sadness he had brought one last time, to at last show what, after being chosen, he had _truly_ brought the digital world. But as he looked at the attackers, his comrades, the digimon that _should_ be suffering the pain of being driven to combat… it wasn't sorrow he saw, but an unmistakable, absolute happiness – the exact same sort he'd have, were he not responsible for all this damn darkness.

And if just one battle had excited them as much as it seemed, given all of them this much determination to live, without them even getting to endure (or was it enjoy?) all that heartbreak and bittersweet happiness… If it could be this much for Unimon, Andromon, and Yukidarumon, if that excitement and life he sensed was really there…

Still, Noriko still had digimon under her thumb – enslaved, mind-controlled. Memories may be unlikable, they may sometimes distort – but he couldn't just let them forget or never even have this happiness!

"Angemon, please destroy every single evil ring you can find!"

"Are you sure of this, Takeru? No one hates evil more than I do, but division is sometimes necessary, and right now they're fighting on our side."

Takeru nodded, wishing Angemon could make his way around this darkness Deathmon created better than he could, guided only by those bursts of energy shot off to save the world. And maybe, just maybe, he could hope again.

* * *

For now, he had a different aspect of the powers of darkness to deal with, one involving the difficulties of maneuvering without light. Attacks must be dodged, in a battle such as this – with Deathmon's eyeball approaching, all he could manage to do was try and dive out of the way. But in this much darkness, tripping over an unfamiliar, unconscious body, one the absent light would have shown him as belonging to Ogremon, he couldn't even see where he fell.

Hearing the blast, on the other hand, or the sound of the debris from the blast zooming by, strangely missing him: that was a whole different matter. And by the light of the explosion, there was one shape he _could_ make out – a silhouette of Sora's back, standing protectively over him, taking all the eye-shrapnel that should have rightfully brought his own death.

_She's still standing, at least... that means something, right?_

But then, the attack seemingly finished, it looked as though there was an odd, secondary explosion at the attack's end, knocking an unprepared Sora right towards the chosen boy. The child of unusual hats moved his arms up reflexively, catching her was right, if only to cushion the blow.

Somehow, again as so much ended, her face bloodied by combat… Sora found herself being accidentally in Takeru's arms, the younger boy blushing and releasing the tomboy the instant he noticed.

"Sora? You… protected me?"

"I owed you from the Snimon thing," she answered, smirking as she hid the pain – though at least having Takeru with her made it hurt less, somehow.

"No, that was just me making up for the battle against Piemon – and it might take me even longer than three years to make it up this time."

Sora smiled at this, conceding the point, chatting with Takeru amidst all the combat, the two thankfully protected by Birdramon's fiery wing. "That doesn't count; you were gonna fight beside me anyway – 'til I convinced you to run for it."

"Yeah…" the chosen child answered nostalgically, blushing as he awkwardly fell silent, searching for something to say – a silence that only ended when, as he began to open his mouth, the older girl instead spoke.

"It's ending, isn't it? Do you think you'll be okay?" Another bit of worry, so like her… he had thought of posing the same question to her, honestly, but the bearer of hope just shouldn't ask such things.

"One way or the other, it does seem that way. But there's still Noriko to think about, and the random Bakumon from earlier… besides, it could be like the first time, just a random message from across the sea."

"You remembered that? I thought you were crying too hard over Angemon."

"_Yeah, way to put your foot in your mouth again, Sora. You wouldn't be any different if it were Piyomon – no wonder you hardly even hang out with Taichi and Yama anymore._" She tried to shoot down that troublesome, obnoxiously conscience-like voice in her head, noticing the reawakened sadness in her friend's heart. "Sorry… I wasn't thinking."

_No kidding._

There were times Sora was especially grateful that Takeru's words were louder than her own thoughts.

"Don't worry, I forgive you. And even if that does happen…" He paused for a moment, allowing her to take in the meaning of his words, or maybe just searching for the right way to say it. "All of us, we've been through so much together, just being with each other is fun in itself – and we'll still have that."

Sora noticed a distinct, yet familiar feeling at his words, her heart pounding slightly, though secretly – she could keep this hidden, right?

"Birdramon, chou shinka, Garudamon!" Her phoenix digimon disappeared behind a wall of fire, then poked out with clenched talons, thick, feathery arms, giant wings, and a good deal more power.

Okay, she couldn't hide this after all – only give an uncharacteristic blush for a love revealed in the oddest of ways.

"Sora-san, I lo--" Takeru began, trying to fight back the heaviness of the confession, even if the other's feelings were known to him… and the fact that spoken love between chosen children only had brought sadness certainly didn't help. (It still would, this time, too… Angemon at the very least, torn as he'd be with his partner finally finding love. Taichi and Yamato, maybe, perhaps Hikari even still…) "No use in me hiding it either. I love you."

She smiled, laying on her back, watching her digimon let loose a "Shadow Wing!" at Deathmon – watched him block the literal firebird effortlessly.

"Don't make such a big deal about it. After all, love for the adventure got us into all this… and I hate to say this, but love can't save the world."

"Garudamon held off Vamdemon, didn't she?"

"And Angewomon killed him. And Imperial Dramon, and a Metal Garurumon/War Greymon team, in different incarnations. Angemon killed Devimon and Piemon, Metal Greymon took out Etemon, Magnamon stopped the Kaiser – you don't need to try to convince me otherwise; love just isn't strong enough."

Takeru nodded, sadly convinced.

"Hope, on the other hand..." The golden-haired boy thought of the future once more at Sora's words, mulling over the likelihood of an end, the earlier fact of comfort – and the fact, the promise not to let the chosen children drift apart this time. His hopes and dreams – Devimon could call them useless all he wanted, but they weren't; quite to the contrary, they were _strong._

"Angemon, warp shinka! Seraphimon!" A shining suit of white armor encased the angel digimon, four new golden wings growing on him as his other's changed color to match them, bits of embroidered blue metal covering the joints.

These hopes were very strong indeed.

* * *

Seraphimon flew into the air, leading the other digimon onward, amidst another of Garudamon's "shadow wing!" a "Positron laser!" from Imperial Dramon, all sorts of attacks effortlessly dodged by Deathmon.

"You think a bunch of pitiful digimon like you can stop me? Half of you aren't even perfection-level!"

The angel digimon placed his hands in the proper position, generating small fireballs, still concealed in his own yellow-glowing light. "What you've done is unforgivable – but you're about to learn something that cost Devimon and Piemon their lives just to find out."

"And that is?"

"When compounded with a desire to save the digital world, there is _nothing_ stronger than hope!" The fireballs grew in the angel's hands for effect, shining with an unearthly, almost holy light – Deathmon still dodging the attacks of so many others, too many attackers for him to even remember which attacks were so weak he could just ignore them. "Seven heavens!"

The fireballs shot rapidly at once towards the ghoul of times past, incinerating him as he screamed in disbelieving pain. "Takeru, they never learn."

* * *

"We did it!" Taichi's excited yell, joined by a peaceful, at last happy Hikari, seeming every bit the hope-filled person Takeru just was, all the chosen forgetting even the sadness before to simply celebrate – yes, even Noriko.

The chosen children spent hours like that – it must have been at least four of them before Sora let slip a single tear not of happiness, and there was still not a one among them willing to be first to leave – upon hearing of the peace, even Mimi, together with her "subjects" and the newly-hatched Yuramon, had rushed to the party.

"But… it's over now." The scepter of real (well, non-digital anyway) life loomed as large as it had in July, the boredom, the loneliness – all of it was every bit as strong.

"Don't talk like that," Mimi began, optimistic and knowing. So she had arrived last of all, been the most distant, let New York become where her happiness lied, only visiting the others a few times a year; it wouldn't stop these words. "Next time, let's not just get so distant… we chosen children need to stick together!"

At her response, even Ken cried, cried tears of complete agreement.

"But we didn't even have much to talk about last Odaiba Memorial…" Koushirou began, ever the analytical realist, no matter how bitter it became. "Absent our finished journeys, which can only be so long – what is there to keep us together?"

Takeru shook his head, his mouth before opening once more in a hopeful smile.

"It's not over. We have worlds to integrate, plenty of threads of this great time still dangle unfinished… And as long as there's a digital world, I truly believe that our adventures will always continue on."

* * *

Author's notes: Yeah, this could never really _end_, just the part that's written. But I tried to leave it with a digimon-style yet good ending. XP

(I was running low on plot-threads, honestly, got a few good ideas but all ending-related, this seemed as good a time as any...)

Feel I made it a bit shippier than planned, but I'm really confident in this ending…(I defend listing it as gen only because it's such a genre-combination that even this much romance can't make me do otherwise, and defend the angst 'cause it's so freaking angsty.)

That said, savage criticism, boundless praise, general neutrality, whatever opinion you've got – if you've come this far, PLEASE review.

It's all welcomed, just to know people read it. And I hope it really is as good as I believe!

(And always, ALWAYS, remember the digital world. This anime rules, and the fandom only makes it better.)


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